pwm£mm^ 






«MMMuM 



■*\MJV'*' 



\jv7\pys} 



VVU: 



iltw 






■ 
■ 






W V- 


. ^ w 


t 




1 


p 


^ 


; 




y 



J0& 



yv* > 
















mi fM < 






v^w^^B4Jyy^S 



wmm 



MMMM^Lf 



u^ys^V^^wii 



J'v^V^ 



«M^rarae«v w 



5 y?Vi»:W|«M 



MMM 



LIBRA 



CONGRKSS. 



VWWU 

mat 



IliS 



UNITED 



"WHS* 



MMM 

mm 



yuvvum 






V&yV-y 



fJJVWWgWW 












wwwwWWS 1 



'N/Sipn' in 



JSfltSPW^P 



vVV v Vv v 



yyvw 



f*n 



mmmmmm 



^ywwv 



*&flffiW 



«Vf f 



to*»fc* 



H|PP9?WJ U " 









!My,u v ^ t ! 






W)MMU 



\teM>jmZ)&zwm* 



glfifi^uS^ 



.jyuawud* 



&w 



VwW 



wvy 



yv: 






OJ\J"V<J\jw\J' 






: »y^u^^^v,^^v 



«WUtW 



W:vvOv^viww- 






iPSlB 



mmwrnm 



MNMKMW 



MAN'S MISSION ON EARTH: 

BEING A SERIES OF LECTURES 



DELIVERED AT 



DR. JOURDAIN'S 



aristett (Salferg af%riKiam%, 

CORNER OF WASHINGTON AND ESSEX STREETS, 

BOSTON, MASS. 



SEVENTH EDITION 



BOSTON : 

ROCKWELL & ROLLINS, PRINTERS. 

1868. 

V 







Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1867, by 

R. J. JOURDAIN, M.D., 

in the Clerk's office of the District Court for the Distict of Massaclra 

setts. 



CONTENTS. 



Page 

Lecture on Consumption, 5 

Lecture on Venereal Diseases, • • . 21 

Lecture on Dyspepsia, ...... 37 

Lecture on Diabetes, • • • • • 51 

Lecture on Insanity, 66 

Lecture on the Voice, • • • • • 84 

Self-Examination. • •••••• 103 



LECTURE -ON CONSUMPTION. 



Gentlemen : The subject of this evening's lec- 
ture is that terrible malady which, with insidious 
strides, advances with civilization, too often baf- 
fling medical skill in its efforts to arrest it, — that 
disease which is known under the different names 
of consumption, decline, or more scientifically 
called Phthisis. Consumption is a gradual decay 
of the vital powers. When found in young pa- 
tients, it bears this name ; but when in middle- 
aged or old persons, the same disease is called 
decline. Now, in my former lectures, I have 
pointed out how utterly useless it was attempt- 
ing to arrest any disease without first removing or 
curing the original cause. And here, again, we 
find the truth of my assertion remarkably exempli- 
fied in the treatment of consumption. Notwith- 
standing the advance of medical science, we see 
daily instances where otherwise excellent physi- 
cians fail, entirely owing to their cutting at the 
surface rather than digging down to the root. 
From this very failure we too often hear it asserted 

5 



6 



that consumption cannct be cured. Now, when 
we consider the nature of the disease, its frequen- 
cy, and the sad havoc it is making upon the vital- 
ity of the nation, destroying thousands of unfortu 
nate victims, it becomes a solemn duty to inquire 
into its nature, its effect, and its origin. Having 
already given you, in former lectures, physiologi- 
cal advice on other branches of diseases, I would 
be unworthy of my position, if I neglected to 
give you the benefit of my experience in this, 
he most insidious, and, as many think, the most 
hopelessly incurable, of fatal affections. Having 
premised thus much, we will at once enter upon an 
inquiry into the nature of the disease. 

Now, as I said before, consumption is a con- 
suming away of vital force, originating in different 
causes. Now, if we take the word in its actual 
literal sense, we are all, every one of us, affected 
with the disease. Every day, nay, every hour, our 
body is exhausting itself and giving out, even in 
gaseous exhalations, its strength and energy ; but, 
fortunately, it is also at the same time gaining 
from food, exercise, fresh air, and a natural recu- 
perative agency that amount of strength which will 
make up for the exhaustion. As we grow old, this 
work of recuperation becomes more sluggish, and 
at length we sink into infirmity, and finally death. 
But for this, life would be eternal. When, how- 
ever, from some cause or other, our exhaustion 



is increased beyond the point of recuperation, or 
recuperation decreased below the point of exhaus- 
tion, then commences at once the fatal disease of 
which we treat in this lecture. And then, if we 
wish for successful treatment, we must look out 
and find the cause of this organic change. It is 
a common error to suppose that consumption i3 
confined to one particular class of frames. Now, 
experience teaches me that such is not the case. I 
certainly allow that there are peculiar habits of 
body which appear more liable than others. Thus, 
persons of slender make, long necks, narrow chests, 
and prominent shoulders are generally more liable 
to attack, owing to the fact that persons of such 
make have less vitality, as a rule, than others. 
But every class of man, from the strong, powerful 
pugilist, to the well-made but slender student, 
all classes of make and form are, in fact, liable to 
this fatal affection ; and this only can we say, 
that, as the strong man has more vitality to resist 
the evil when attacked, so will his chances of cure 
be immensely increased. But let him not think 
that in his present strength and form he enjoys 
any immunity from the malady. We will now 
examine into the symptoms. This disease, like 
every other, must incubate some time before it be- 
gins to make its appearance, and, like every other 
disease, it varies in its symptoms ; but, to 
the practised eye of the physician, the seeds 



8 



of decay are clearly visible. After a while the 
patient begins to feel lassitude ; he is easily 
fatigued; any rapid movement affects his dungs, 
bringing on a slight cough ; this slight cough be- 
comes habitual to him, though he does not remark 
it himself, nor like its being noticed by others ; 
his breathing becomes hurried ; he becomes more 
or less emaciated. This state continues for a year 
or so without his complaining. He becomes more 
easily affected by cold, his cough being always in- 
creased. He has some affection of the head, nose, 
and eyes, as if from common catarrh. At length, 
a cold appears of more than usual severity. The 
cough becomes more troublesome. It had for- 
merly been occasional and dry ; now it becomes 
more constant, and in the morning there is con- 
siderable expectoration. This becomes copious 
and tough, and at length purulent ; the breathing 
becomes more hurried and difficult, and the de- 
bility and wasting are increased. Then there 
appears a hectic fever. As this often accompa- 
nies other disorders, it may be as well to de- 
fine it. Hectic fever is that fever which has ex- 
acerbations, or an increase of severity twice a clay. 
The first occurs about noon, and another one in 
the evening, which generally continues till after 
midnight. Sometimes these exacerbations are 
preceded by a sensation of cold. I say sensa- 
tion, for in reality the skin, if examined by a ther- 



9 



mometer, would show an actual increase of heat. 
The night attack is the workt, and is accompanied 
by profuse perspiration, commonly called night 
sweats, which becomes more and more profuse as 
it advances, — the worst period of which is be- 
tween two and four in the morning. The app etite 
for food is not always at first impaired, but in an 
early stage is sometimes voracious ; afterwards it 
declines. The face is commonly pale, — at times 
flushed up with a bright red spot on each cheek. 
The weakness of the system is great and increas- 
ing, and the wasting is carried to an extent that is 
almost incredible. The mind seldom becomes 
much affected ; in fact, in most cases it continues 
in a state of buoyancy and hope whiclvis astonish- 
ing. Whilst the approach of death is clearly marked 
by all, the patient himself is full of joyful hope 
of recovery. Sometimes the cultivated genius 
shines out with more than usual splendor as life 
ebbs away, like the beautiful but fabulous song of 
the swan heard for the first and last time at its dis- 
solution. Whilst the fever and expectoration go 
on, there is generally a pain experienced in some 
part of the chest. At first it is felt under the 
breastbone and only when coughing; afterwards 
it spreads to some part of the side. These symp- 
toms all take some time in developing themselves. 
Nature fights bravely against its greatest enemy, 
dissolution ; but, unaided by medical science, or 



10 



perhaps frustrated by the habits of the patient 
himself, it gradually loses ground. 

There is one point on which all medical men are 
agreed, and that is, that consumption is most fre- 
quent among those who have tubercles of the 
lungs. But it may be asked what are they, and how 
is it known who have and who have not tubercu- 
lous lungs? Tubercles, then, are certain minute 
hard swellings, inactive at first, but, when inflamed, 
they change into little abscesses, which break, pour 
out their matter, and, as they multiply, and con- 
tinue the exhaustion, the lungs become fretted 
away and destroyed. As to who have tuberculous 
lungs, we can merely say that persons of a scrofu- 
lous tendency are those who most frequently have 
them ; also persons of a sanguine temperament, 
smooth skin, ruddy complexion, large veins, soft 
flesh. The substances expectorated may be di- 
vided under two heads, — mucus and pus ; and 
some plysicians assert that they can form their 
diagnosis from the expectoration. Such, however, 
cannot be relied on, as I myself have seen the 
most formidable-looking matter exchanged under 
treatment for improved expectoration, and perfect 
health is restored. There are means of deciding 
the nature of the attack, but they are too intricate 
to allow of their definition to an unprofessional 
audience. Indeed, nothing but the most careful 
observation, founded on long experience, can make 



11 



the required distinction. Some few diseases are 
sometimes, upon careless observation, mistaken 
for consumption, — such as sympathetic cough, 
irritation of the diaphragm, ulceration from inflam- 
mation, inflammation of the windpipe. 

Too often persons, by neglecting a cold, lay the 
foundation of a.long list of symptoms, ending in 
the grave. Let no one, therefore, thus endanger 
his health. But, though the advice is good for all, 
it is many times more applicable to those who are 
of the habit and temperament I have mentioned, 
or to those who have lost any of their relations by 
consumption. Let these, then, be especially on 
their guard. Every species of disease is more or 
less amenable to medical treatment, — more as it 
is taken in time, less as the powers become ex- 
hausted. 

Having shown you the nature and symptoms of 
the disease, my next step must be to look at the 
causes and cure of it, for this is the most impor- 
tant part of the whole subjept. It is here that the 
doctor, if he wishes for success, must begin his 
labors ; and, unless he do begin here, the victim is 
doomed irremediably. How imperative is it, then, 
upon us to make it a subject of tb§ closest inquiry ! 
As I said before, a constant exhaustion is going 
on about us. This being natural and remedied by 
nature, we need not do more than mention it ; but 
when the exhaustion is too great, we must discover 



12 



the cause and diminish it. When the recuperative 
power is diminished, we must find out the cause 
and increase it. Too often in practice the medical 
man, finding exhaustion increased, forces with 
medicines the recuperative agency up to the same 
point as the other. This, then, affects a partial 
cure ; but nature, whose laws must be obeyed, 
soon suffers under this forced treatment, and the 
after results are more formidable than before. 

In the first place, we will take the delicate frame, 
delicate from hereditary causes. Perhaps the par- 
ents have been sickly, perhaps they are tainted 
with scrofula ; perhaps they have been, as too 
often is the case, guilty of self-pollution. In such 
cases the recuperative powers are enfeebled, and 
consumption sets in. Now, here, in a case like 
this, medical art can only for a time avert the 
calamity. The whole frame is too weakly to com- 
bat the disease. Nature herself seems apathetic 
as to the result ; and, as she quietly yields with 
scarcely a struggle, art can but supply her place 
for a time. Then, as that becomes exhausted, the 
patient sinks. Now, such a case as this must be 
kept separately classed from other kinds. It is a 
case of consumption, and yet, in one sense, it is 
not. The individual in question was doomed from 
infanc}^ ; his vitality was below par ; and if he had 
not fallen as he did, he would have rapidly sunk 
under any of the other casualties which constantly 



13 



overtake human beings, and which, to strong cori« 
stitutions, pass off as slight temporary ailments. 
He maj r be said to have been born and lived in a 
regular consumption. In this case it must be ob- 
vious to any one that medical art cannot build up 
where there is no foundation, cannot restore what 
has never been lost, cannot awaken a recuperative 
power which has never existed ; but, fortunately, 
these cases are rare. 

We now come to the regular consumptives, 
who, from sound health, have fallen into the dis- 
tressing malady, and here we have plenty of hope 
of cure. Take the strong lad who, at an early 
age, has acquired the habit of smoking and chew- 
ing to excess ; who, as he grows older, indulges in 
intemperance, keeps late hours, spends those 
which ought to have been spent in refreshing sleep 
in a close room, loaded with numerous exhalations 
and stale fumes ; who gives himself up to lassitude 
and ennui, seldom doing much but reading or 
sauntering to and from places of amusement, in- 
dulging in venereal excess, pampering his . fail- 
ing appetite with rich and luscious foods and 
stimulating cordials. For some years this con- 
tinues ; lassitude, pallor, and a number of other 
symptoms set in, and at length the abused system 
becomes reduced to a consumptive tendency; 
cough, hectic, and night sweats set in, and 
medical aid becomes imperative. In my descrip- 



14 



tion I have commenced with the cause ; but in this 
case the physician has to trace it back for himself. 
When he sees the patient, he may and probably is 
emaciated, worn out, and apparently tottering to a 
premature grave. His constitution may seem re- 
duced to the last stage, and yet, by finding out the 
cause, stopping it at once, supplying proper hours 
of rest for improper, good food for bad food, gentle 
exercise for listless idleness, and, by medicines, 
alteratives, and stimulants, working the frame up 
from its state of apathy and dulness to an active 
and natural state, he may not only succeed in 
warding off the fatal symptoms, but he may 
also bring back the system to a healthy and nat- 
ural state. But if he at once acknowledges the 
disease as arising from pulmonary complaint, in- 
stead of pulmonary from something prior, he will 
endeavor to cure that which, as long as the cause 
last, is hopelessly incurable. And so one more 
case is set down to the incurability of lung com- 
plaints. 

Now, the case I cite, is similar to many that 
have come under my own treatment, and these 
were men of naturally very strong constitutions. 
Many others with weaker constitutions are re- 
duced to a similar state of prostration through in- 
dulging in a much less degree than the case I have 
quoted ; and, having the cause of their debility 
taken away, have, under skilful treatment, regained 



15 



their natural strength and vigor. There are others, 
again, who have equally abused nature, but not by 
dissipation or sensuality ; many who, by long ex- 
hausting attention to business, taking no exercise 
and improper diet, have impeded the recuperative 
powers, and laid themselves open to pulmonary 
complaints. Others, again, who, by careless ex- 
posure to wet and cold, irregular meals, and con- 
stant excessive fatigue, have reduced themselves 
similarly. In fact, it would be an endless task to 
enumerate all the leading causes of decline. We 
can bring them all in under the head of abuse of 
natural powers, and inattention to those rules 
which govern the body, which rules every sane man 
ought to study and follow. There is, however, 
one cause of consumption, and, I may say, most 
prolific cause, which I have already treated of at 
length in my lecture on the subject, but not in 
reference to its connection with consumption. I 
will now refer to it. 

We have shown how, under the effects of ex- 
cessive exhaustion, the vitality becomes impaired, 
thus paving the way for the introduction of this ^ 
insidious disease of phthisis ; but, though the de- 
mand upon the system is always great, in early 
youth, before puberty, and afterwards to maturity, 
the demand is infinitely greater ; for not only then 
do we require that which may supply the actual 
loss of the day, but a larger share is required to 



16 



perfect the growth, enlargement, and consolidation 
of the parts. Whatever, therefore, exhausts the 
powers then, does it in a double manner, not only 
•weakening the actual force, but preventing th(? 
different portions of the system from obtaining 
their proper nutriment. What, then, must be ex- 
pected from the terrible sin of masturbation, or 
self-pollution ? Just at the time when nature re- 
quires, imperatively requires, every part and pai- 
ticle of its sustenance and support, the greater por- 
tion is drained off and lost. This cannot continue 
long without painful consequences, and the system 
speedily becomes debilitated, and then still less able 
to go on with the great work on hand. Let us once 
more examine the actual results of this disgusting 
habit. From it arise debility, pallor, nervousness, 
loss of sleep, confusion of ideas, aversion to exer- 
cise, listlessness, idleness, pains in the head, mel- 
ancholy forebodings, voracity, fear, and loss of 
memory. How, then, I would ask, can any man, — 
how, then, can any one expect nature to work 
under such disadvantages? Sleep, that great 
restorer, whose effects act like charms upon the 
body and mind, ceases to soothe and invigorate 
the wretched ^ Onanist's body, rather by its fitful- 
ness and fever acting as an exhausting object. Ex- 
ercise, so necessary to the young, is partially or 
wholly neglected by the victim ; whilst that activity 
and buoyancy of spirit, so necessary to enlivea and 



17 



push on the works of nature, is dead, sullen, and 
gloomy. The consequence of all this is that if the 
wretched victim escape the actual immediate pun- 
ishment attendant upon his excesses, he grows up 
to be a man, but with his vital agents already 
weakened and ready to fall into the jaws of dis- 
ease, in whatever shape it comes. And when we 
consider how mere inattention and carelessness 
may superinduce this terrible affection, how much 
more certain will it be in its effects upon those 
who by actual self-abuse have weakened and im- 
paired every part and parcel of their godlike 
frames ! 

I have hitherto confined myself to the disease 
and cause ; but having also mentioned its curabil- 
ity under some circumstances, I will illustrate a 
case in point, the details of which will speak 
for themselves. The patient, a young man of 
thirty-two years of age, of a sanguine tempera- 
ment, had been taken ill some five months pre- 
viously, commencing with a cough and pain in 
the chest. The disease spread with such alarming 
rapidity, that he was soon reduced to complete de- 
bility. He was unable to make but the slightest 
exertion. His hacking cough continued almost 
without intermission. The night sweats were pro- 
fuse, appetite gone, and a constant looseness of 
the bowels added materially to his other infirmi- 
ties. At first I myself almost despaired of even 



18 



prolonging nis life much less curing him. I soon 
found out that he had originally been of a robust 
constitution, but that he had gradually fallen 
away, until suddenly attacked by this galloping 
consumption. After several weeks' treatment, 
during which time the life of the patient seemed 
hanging by a mere thread, he began to amend, and, 
after a long time, regained his health. One of his 
lungs was nearly gone, — but which I was in time 
to save. This gentleman had suffered from sperma- 
torrhoea and nocturnal emissions, which had been 
the original causes of his decline. I cannot say 
how long this gentleman lived. At any rate, five 
years afterwards he was as robust, apparently, as 
could be. 

Unlike many other diseases, consumption is not 
confined to the human race. Tubercular disease 
has been found in almost every kind of animals, — 
the pig itself not being exempt. As pulmonary 
inflammation is one of the causes which very fre- 
quently leads to consumption, or, at any rate, the 
immediate cause of its development, I cannot pass 
it over without a few remarks. Pulmonary inflam- 
mation may be of two kinds, either inflammation of 
the pleura, or inflammation of the substance of the 
lungs.' It commences with the usual symptoms of 
'fever, — a shivering succeeded by an increased dry- 
ness of the skin, thirst, flushed face, and fre- 
quency of pulse ; a difficulty of breathing comes on, 



19 



and a pain in some part of the chest. Sometimes 
it is fixed, at others it shoots towards the shoulder. 
An expectoration of yellowish, viscid matter takes 
place. This disease may terminate in three ways, 
namely : by resolution, suppuration, or gangrene. 
This last, however, is not of frequent occurrence. 
"When it terminates by resolution, there occurs a 
gradual subsidence of all the symptoms. Suppura- 
tion is more to be dreaded, for where it forms an 
abscess in the lungs the breathing becomes short, 
the cough dry and obstinate, the body becomes en- 
feebled, and night sweats make their appearance. 
If the abscess can be reached, or if it break without 
damaging the air-cells, the patient will recover. 
Gangrene of the lungs is denoted by a sudden ces- 
sation of all pain, a lividity of the countenance, in- 
termittent pulse, fetid expectoration, hiccup, stu- 
por, and death. As I said before, pulmonary 
inflammation is apt, especially in tuberculous lungs, 
to bring on consumption, its effect being to irritate 
the tubercles and awaken them to that state of 
activity which speedily develops' itself in a regu- 
lar pulmonary complaint. 

The nature and contents of this lecture make it 
hardly necessary for me to conclude my observa- 
tions by pointing out the necessity for respecting the 
splendid frame which God has given us ; but yet, as 
the necessity for regarding its rules is of such vital 
importance to all, I cannot refrain from adding a 



20 



few words of exhortation. Let every one here 
present study for himself the laws of the human 
system. Let every one, in every walk of life, re- 
member this great truth, — that Nature will de- 
mand a terrible retribution upon all who abuse her. 
If you contain yourself temperately and soberly, 
obeying her laws and respecting her, dictates, she 
will then be to you a guard and a defence. When 
sickness or accident overtakes you, she will be the 
first to bear you back to health and happiness ; 
but if you abuse her, not only will she be apt not 
to defend you when assailed, but she may even 
herself be the first to deliver you up passively to 
the first vital affection which may attack you. Let 
man, and oh ! especially let youth, preserve with 
care the, greatest treasure Providence can give, 
and then bestow that same robust health to his off- 
spring. 

Hoping that my lectures may be of lasting ad- 
vantage to my hearer, I conclude. 

51 Hancock Street, Boston, Mass. 



LECTURE ON VENEREAL DISEASES. 



Gentlemen : The subject of this evening's lec- 
ture is one which everybody, be he young or mid- 
dle-aged, would do well to attend to. It is one 
affecting in a most serious degree the health, hap- 
piness, and domestic comfort of the community at 
large. It is one on which ignorance or apathy 
may blast the happiness of the individual. Lucky 
if it does not spread greater havoc, and carry dis- 
ease and misery on unsuspecting innocence. The 
subject, gentlemen, is that terrible curse which as- 
sails the human race, and which is known by the 
name of venereal diseases. And is it not terrible 
to look into the world and mark how this fearful 
scourge has worked its dreadful vengeance on its 
victims ? Here we see the youth who set out in 
life surrounded with everything that could make 
life happy and prosperous, loved and beloved, and 
yet in a thoughtless moment he has become in- 
fected, his body is covered with loathsome sores, 
his health ruined, himself racked with pain and 
d.sgrace, his face disfigured so that even his best 
friends shrink from him. Oh, what would he not 

21 



22 



give if he could recall the past ! But, alas ! the in- 
exorable hand of time moves on, and he must beat 
with him the punishment of his ignorance and folly 
perhaps to his grave. Sad as is this case, it is no 
more painful a picture than what constantly comes 
under the view of the medical practitioner ; and, 
melancholy as is the fate of such a one, how much 
more terrible must be the feelings of the staid mar- 
ried man, the husband of a virtuous wife, the father 
of innocent children, if, in a thoughtless moment, 
he has become contaminated ! Neglect and igno- 
rance have multiplied and concealed the disease, or 
perhaps the specifics of ignorant pretenders have 
appeared to cure ; then it breaks out with all its 
horrors, cursing not only himself but his wife, and 
perhaps children yet unborn. Terrible as is such 
a result, could you, as I can, pierce the veil of se- 
crecy which surrounds such cases, you would be 
appalled at the fearful effects of this vice, — effects 
which no one but a medical man can appreciate at 
their full value. And feeling this to be the case, 1 
devote myself to such an exposition of cause and 
effect as I believe will tend to the advantage of 
those whom I address. Nor is there any one here 
present who would not willingly do the same 
thing for the cause of humanity, had he seen in 
hospitals, or in private practice, the fearful ef- 
fects which I have seen, arising from neglect, abuse 
of mercury, or long-continued delay. I mention 



23 



these causes, for such is and has been the 
march of medical science that the disease itself 
succumbs in most cases easily to the practised 
professional. 

Having premised thus much, we will at once 
turn to our subject, which, as I said before, is an 
examination into, and explanation of, venereal dis- 
eases ; also, the abuses arising from ignorance and 
neglect. 

The disease is generally classed under two 
heads, — that which is truly local, as gonorrhoea ; 
and that which may affect the system, as syphi- 
lis. Syphilis arises always from inoculation by ve- 
nereal poison. This may be attained in various 
ways, but generally by coition with a diseased 
subject. A short time after coition, — from three 
to ten days, — a slight pimple, accompanied by 
itching, forms ; then follows a slight pustule, which, 
breaking, exposes a venereal sore. This sore may 
be of three kinds, — simple, indurated, or phage- 
denic. The simple chancre yields readily to treat- 
ment ; the indurated, however, requires very careful 
and skilful treatment, else secondaries are sure to 
follow ; the phagedenic is an eating ulcer, as the 
name signifies, and rapidly destroys the part af- 
fected. Sloughing is apt to follow, and, unless 
skilfully treated, the organs of generation are apt 
to be extensively impaired, if not destroyed. 
When primaries have set in, if neglected or im- 



24 



perfectly treated, within ten days or a fortnight a 
swelling or swellings on the groin or groins is apt 
to follow. This is called bubo, and may be of two 
kinds, sympathetic or syphilitic. After this, within 
from three weeks to six months, — oftener about 
three months, — secondaries set in, affecting the 
throat and mouth, then breaking out in scaly or 
suppurative eruptions, acting on the skin and 
nerves, destroying the mouth and affecting the 
nose. After this, at a period from six to twelve 
months, or even years, what are called tertiary 
symptoms set in. These are apt to destroy the 
testicles by carcocele, which, unless carefully 
watched, produces atrophy of the parts. They 
bring on periostitis, or disease of the bones, and 
when the disease reaches this stage the agony is 
such that life becomes almost insupportable. 

Such, then, are some of the effects of diseases 
of this kind. Vigor, beauty, health, and life itself 
may be destroyed. How necessary it is for all to 
guard against this dreadful disease ! Look, gen- 
tlemen, at the models, — each and all of th£m taken 
from actual cases ; and could you yourselves look 
into that part which memory of experience and 
practice on this very disease gives me, you would 
yourselves see how little do these models come up 
to some of the terrible cases which have come un- 
der my notice. Can any one be so foolish as to 
run the risk of encountering these evils by neg- 



25 



lecting or secreting the cause, or by rushing off for 
some foolish and useless specific? One would 
think not ; and yet how constantly do these cases 
occur ! Indeed, two-thirds of the worst cases arise 
from these two prolific sources. The practical 
physician, if he have any kind of constitution to 
work upon, can invariably arrest the foul destroyer, 
but where long neglect or malpractice has hard- 
ened the disease, then terrible is the fate of the 
sufferer. 

In example of what these will bring about, I 
will cite a case in point. This case, No. 489, was 
a man of forty-five. He had lived a gay life ; had 
been fortunate in escaping syphilitic contamina- 
tion for some length of time. He at length got 
contaminated ; disease appeared five days after 
contact. He being then away in his yacht, was 
unable to get advice. He immediately made into 
Southampton, got advice and medical treatment. 
His chancre first of all indurated, became spage- 
denic under the treatment ; sloughing set in ; his 
penis was threatened with destruction ; secondaries 
of the worst type appeared. Mercurial baths were 
ordered, which fearfully increased the evil. His 
tonsils were seriously affected ; roof of his mouth 
Impaired. Finding himself worse, and fearing ut- 
ter destruction, he hurried up and consulted me. 
The fearful ravages of the disease were awfully 
apparent. I immediately altered the treatment. 



26 



In t'jree days the sloughing ceased ; in a marvel- 
lously short time the ulcers in the mouth disap- 
peared, and after a long interval he was restored 
to full health. Case 911 was even more seri- 
ous. He had also suffered from neglect and mal- 
treatment. The chancre in his case had been de- 
stroyed by caustic, the disease itself being left to 
work its own way. Secondaries soon appeared. 
These were partially treated, and tertiaries set in. 
As a last resource, the patient came to me. At 
that time carcocele threatened his private parts 
with destruction, whilst periostitis racked his bones 
with torments indescribable. From the immense 
length of time this had been running, the case was 
a serious one. It was here a matter of life and 
death ; but, happily, I was enabled to cure him of 
his pains, and, after a long and tedious combat 
with the disease, he was restored to a passable 
state of health. 

Sad as are these cases of terrible disease, they 
are yet observable to all. The patient though he 
suffers, suffers alone ; no one else has his pains 
and shame. But, alas ! such is not always the case. 
Too often the victim, falling into inefficient hands, 
is sent away partially cured ; the virus still infects 
his blood, and will reappear in a manner more 
fearful to contemplate than even the agonies of 
periostitis. Could I unfold those secrets which 
have been confided to me as a medical adviser, the 



27 



hearer would start at the terrible revelations which 
would ensue. How the young and lovely bride is 
stretched on the bed of sickness, and sometimes 
death, — attacked, mutilated, and disfigured by this 
loathsome disease ! How, too often, the child 
shrinks away to an early grave from a life which 
has been but one utter misery, — a misery inflicted 
Tby that being who should have guided and guarded 
its every precious breath ! Enough for us to say, — 
and let this advice ring in the memory of all, — that 
no one who has been once infected, and whose dis- 
ease has run any time, can be sure that he will not 
suffer in the future. Often the disease lies dor- 
mant in the system, leading the victim to rest un- 
der the delusion that he has escaped all deleterious 
influence, and then, when least expected, it bursts 
forth two or three years afterwards in all its 
terrible symptoms. Nay, it has been known 
to appear years and years afterwards ; in fact, it is 
almost impossible to say what length of time may 
intervene before it does appear, as in many sys- 
tems it undergoes various changes, caused by local 
and constitutional reasons, and which govern the 
length of time which may elapse. 

We will now turn from disease arising from 
syphilis to that which is generally known under 
the name of gonorrhoea. This, like chancre, arises 
from venereal poison, which is, however, different 
both in its nature and effects from syphilitic virus ; 



28 



but, though confined to local symptoms, and hence 
less dreaded than syphilis, it yet leads to as many, 
though more secret, effects. 

Gonorrhoea may be divided under two heads, 
acute and simple. ' It is simple when arising from 
some irritating source, which does not, however, 
contain poison. To distinguish between them is 
by some men, as Drs. Hunter and Blcord, set 
down as very difficult. Science and experience, 
however, do enable the definition of them to be 
made with ease. Indeed, that physician who makes 
a specialty of these diseases of the organs, and yet 
fails in distinguishing at once the difference be- 
tween them, would be very apt to fail in his treat- 
ment of all classes of diseases. Simple gonorrhoea 
may arise from a multiplicity of causes. Men who 
have injured themselves by masturbation are ex- 
tremely apt to get from women suffering from 
whites or leucorrhoea a disease very similar to gon- 
orrhoea, which, however, requires very different 
treatment. This shows how necessary it is for the 
medical man to judge correctly. On his decision 
the domestic happiness and welfare of numbers 
may be at stake, fair fames destroyed, and lives 
rendered miserable. Acute gonorrhoea, however, 
arises from venereal poison, and thus affects the 
parts. Within six to thirteen clays after coition 
the patient discovers a slight burning or itching in 
his urethra. This continues ; a discharge from the 



29 



urethra follows ; intense pain and great difficulty 
are experienced in rendering water, which becomes 
ejected in a broken stream. Chorclee is next apt 
to set in. It is an affection of the most painful 
nature ; the under part of the penis not allowing 
its extension, it becomes curved, and causes awful 
agony. Sometimes the prepuce becomes distended, 
causing what is called phymosis. Where the skin 
is drawn back the symptom is called paryphymo- 
sis. The discharge from the urethra consists of 
mucous pus, at first of a white color, exhibiting 
epithelial scales. 

It is an unfortunate thing that persons run away 
with the idea that gonorrhoea is a simple and com- 
paratively harmless disease ; hence the}' neglect it. 
In some cases, like any other affection, its effects 
are simple, and, when taken in time and skilfully 
treated, may soon be checked without much after 
results ; but when neglected, it may become an in- 
curable gleet, which not only unfits the victim for 
matrimony, but even eventually brings on impo- 
tence. And let my hearers take warning, for 
numbers and numbers of cases daily occur of a 
gonorrhoea settling into a chronic gleet, which 
may torment the patient for years, if not for life. 
And what can be more repugnant to well-constitu- 
ted feelings than thus dragging the visible result of 
one's folly through every phase and relation of life? 

Case 1430, amongst many others who have 



30 



applied to me from this cause, evidences 11 le sad 
results arising from gonorrhoea. The patient, 
thirty years of age, at the age of twentjr-six con- 
tracted gonorrhoea, which was allowed to run some 
time, owing to the idea that it would cure itself. 
In spite of medical attendance, which was called 
in, the disease continued ; inflammation of the 
bladder was brought on ; further complications 
superinduced that most painful of all affections, 
stricture of the urethra. Finally, the disease lapsed 
into a gleet, which continued to torment him, with- 
out any diminution, in spite of every effort made 
in his behalf. Though deterred from matrimony 
by shame and fear of infection, he sought to find 
illicit pleasures elsewhere, when, to his astonish- 
ment, he found himself impotent. Despairing of 
help, and reduced to the last extremity by this ter- 
rible blow, he sought my advice. It will be unnec- 
essary to specify the nature of my attendance. I 
will merely remark that, had he delayed applying 
to me much longer, he would have been ruined for 
life. As it was, he was only restored to health 
after a long and tedious illness. 

Whilst on venereal matters I may as well call 
your attention to a fact which is not generally suf- 
ficiently appreciated. I have already, in other 
lectures upon the fearful results of masturbation, 
shown the terrible local, physical, and mental re- 
sults arising from it There is, however, another 



31 



evil, which must here be mentioned, and that is, 
that those who indulge in this vice and become af- 
fected with gonorrhoea, after the acute symptoms 
are passed away, return to their old habits, and by 
keeping up the irritation frustrate the physician's 
efforts to cure them. The result is invariably a long- 
continued if not persistent gleet, whilst their con- 
stitution under this double drain becomes very 
seriously impaired. So, again, those who have con- 
tinued the baneful habit any length of time so affect 
their constitutions and impoverish the blood as to 
impair the recuperative powers of the body ; hence, 
when infected with syphilis, they have no power to 
withstand it, and the disease rapidly assumes ma- 
lignant forms, and the whole system sinks, through 
want of that virile power which masturbation has 
so disgracefully thrown away. 

In case 1430 I mentioned stricture of the ure- 
thra. It is necessary for us to enter more fully 
upon the nature of the disease, as it is one of the 
most serious, if not the most serious and painful, 
after-results of gonorrhoea. At the same time 
it has been occasionally known to arise from other 
causes, though but seldom. Strictures are of two 
kinds, called spasmodic and permanent. The 
serious nature of the disease may be understood 
when we find it gives rise to all or some of the fol- 
lowing disorders : irritation of the bladder, a dila- 
tation of the urethra, ulceration, fistula, en- 



32 



largement of the pelvis, of the kidneys, besides 
other complaints which are sympathetic, such as 
swelling of the testicles and of the glands in the 
groin. With such a painful combination following 
in its wake, stricture must needs be a serious 
affection. It affects the urethra, or the canal by 
which water is passed or semen ejected. From 
its object and intention, this canal must needs be 
small and complicated ; hence obstructions are apt 
to arise, which, in part or wholly, prevent the pass- 
ing of urine. There are, then, five different recog 
nized methods of obstruction. Three of the former 
are a lessening of the diameter of the passage, and 
the fourth an excrescence. The fifth arises from 
the walls being compressed. The causes of these are 
not so easily classified. I, however, from experi- 
ence, would group them under four heads, and' in this 
I am supported by Ricord. The first, which may 
be generally called spasm, does no£ arise from any 
change of tissue. The second arises from organic 
changes, such as, by ulcerations, with surfaces more 
or less fungous. In certain cases the urethra is en- 
croached npon by true vegetations. These may 
exist in any part of the canal, even posterior to the 
verumoutamun. Hypertrophy and engorgement of 
the folds of the urethra may also form projections 
analogous to those which depend on cicatrices. 
Organic changes also arise from alterations in the 
walls of the canal, as engorgement of the urethral 



33 



walls, from which callosities assuming a fibrous 
condition ensue. Indurations from chancre will 
sometimes give rise to the disease, but in 
such a case it yields to antisyphilitic remedies. 
The third are affections which proceed from parts 
external to the urethra. The most common is in- 
flammation of the neighboring tissue, or inflamma- 
tion followed by nodosities, or rings, which cause 
a deviation in the canal, elevate its walls, or 
strangulate it completely ; and finally we have con- 
tractions of the muscular fibres. The fourth com- 
pound causes are those morbid states which I have 
mentioned, existing in various ways, which give 
rise to compound strictures. 

The two kinds of stricture to which these cases 
give birth, as I said before, are spasmodic and per- 
manent. Some writers have even named a third 
kind, — a mixed case, composed of permanent 
stricture and spasm. As, however, the word per- 
manent carries its own meaning, it must be an odd 
distinction which can classify the two together. 

Spasmodic stricture is that -stricture which arises 
from other causes beside organic change in the 
parts, and will commonly explain its origin on 
close investigation, and as the cause is removed 
will regain its usual structure. Permanent stric- 
ture, arising from alteration in the structure of the 
organization, is, of course, as its name signifies, 
always more or les3 persistent. In this disease the 



34 



patient seldom complains till he can hardly pi ocure 
a passage for the urine, and frequently has a con- 
siderable degree of strangury. 

The same stricture, however, is not at all times 
equally bad. Thus, it is always affected more by 
cold than heat; is always worse in winter than 
summer. Although, from the nature of the disease, 
it would seem almost impossible for medical sci- 
ence to alter and readjust the parts, yet such has 
been its advance of late years that it is very gen- 
erally successful. It would be unnecessary to 
enter upon the means of cure, as they are of too 
delicate and fine a nature to allow of their use by 
other than experienced hands. 

As I mentioned some of the results arising from 
stricture, it may not be uninteresting to briefly ex- 
plain the nature of some of them. Enlargement of 
the urethra is the breaking and wearing away of 
the canal preceding the point of obstruction, which 
arises on the same principle, that when we dam up 
a stream it will in its endeavors to escape enl arge 
its banks. Ulceration is formed by the urine, in its 
endeavors to open up a new passage for itself, 
which if effected is a source of annoyance, and if 
not is apt to bring on mortification. Fistula arises 
from inflammation in the new passages, and brings 
on complaints of an intermittent kind, such as 
fevers. The swelling of the gland is even more se-, 
rious than any of the preceding ones, as we have 



35 



fewer methods of cure. Here we cannot destroy it, 
like the stricture, nor can nature relieve herself by 
drawing off the water through new passages. We 
can, however, relieve it by the catheter. The 
disease itself is a swelling of the gland until the 
mouth of the urethra becomes entirely closed. 

Time and space will not allow us to go further 
in the matter. Sufficient has been shown, though 
not one-fifth which could be, to prove to the most 
thoughtless the fearful diseases and complications 
which may arise and follow even simple venereal 
infection, and which may and clo follow the general 
effects of sensuality of whatever kind. The organs 
of generation are too fine and beautifully arranged 
to allow of abuse of any kind without inflicting 
severe penalty. 

When we think, then, of the nature of the vene- 
real disease ; its disgusting and revolting symp- 
1 oms ; the disgrace, pain, and danger, which follow 
i n its track ; its destruction of all those holy con- 
nubial joys which are the highest pleasure beings 
can enjoy below ; the utter domestic wretchedness 
it is apt to cause, and its frequency in our midst, — 
it becomes the duty of every man to acquaint him- 
self with that part of its nature and history which 
will act as a safeguard from temptation and a 
means of relief in case of suffering ; but also in a 
much greater degree does it become the duty of 
physiological exponents and leaders to show, ex- 



3(5 



p.ain, and bring before the public those subjects 
which will tend to promote the great objects that 
they have at heart. And, having myself in a long 
practice seen the suffering, bodily and mental, 
which arises from venereal diseases and those of 
the generative organs generally, I determined, if 
possible, to mitigate the evil as far as lay in my 
power. 

51 Hancock St., Boston, Mass. 



LECTURE ON DYSPEPSIA. 



Gentlemen: We have in previous evenings 
dilated upon different subjects intimately con- 
nected with the health and welfare of the public 
generally. Of those diseases which we have 
treated of in my lectures, many of them arise, as 
I have before mentioned, from disorders of the 
stomach and system generally ; and, in order to 
remedy these diseases, it is necessary to find out 
the causes of them in the first place. Thus we 
cannot neglect that most prolific cause of ill- 
ness, hypochondria, and many other ailments, while 
treating of these subjects ; and that prolific cause, 
both fearful in its effects and most common in its 
occurrence, is dyspepsia. Now, as dyspepsia is 
generally only a result, so it is in itself a 
cause of a variety of dreadful diseases. Too often 
medical men, as I have before said, trace back 
different ailments to dyspepsia, and there rest sat- 
isfied with the discovery ; whereas it is essentially 
necessary for successful treatment to cany the in- 
quiry still farther, and find out what has been the 
origin of this, the foundation of so many com- 

37 



38 



plaints. As one engaged in the great work of 
advising on physiological matters, — advising in 
such a manner as may enable man to avoid, by 
attendance to simple rules, the multifarious disas- 
ters and evils which otherwise will accrue, — I 
cannot do better than make dyspepsia, its cause and 
effects, the subject of to-night's lecture. And there- 
fore, gentlemen, we will at once proceed upon our 
subject. 

Dyspepsia, therefore, arises from a disordered 
state of stomach, a weakening from various causes 
of that part of the system which regulates the 
digestive and absorbing powers ; and one thing 
which must be recognized by all men as, in fact, 
the alpha of all physiological science, is that the 
stomach holds in an eminent degree a close con- 
nection with every vital function. If the stomach 
be in good health, the brain will be clear, the frame 
strong, the spirits buoyant ; but the moment when, 
from any cause, it becomes deranged, although 
pain may at first appear but in that region, all 
other parts are more or less affected. This con- 
nection is, however, reciprocal. A disease of other 
organizations may also act upon the stomach ; 
the stomach, however, always acts upon the others. 
That this should be so is evident from the capa- 
bilities and offices which this organ has to per- 
form. Into it are poured all those substances 
which are to renovate the brain-cell, to strengthen 



39 



the blood, to give pliability to the muscles and 
joints, to support the* nerves, and to replace the 
natural exhaustion of the frame. The moment, 
therefore, it fails in any of its functions, each and 
every one of the organs suffer. When, from any 
local cause, it chances to occur occasionally, it is 
known simply as indigestion, and, after a time, 
either with or without medicine, the disease and 
pain disappear ; but when the functions of the 
stomach have become impaired so as to continue 
the ailment of other parts, it comes under the 
head of dyspepsia, which will require a consider- 
able amount of care and medical skill to combat 
and remedy. When well, few ever take notice of 
the fact that there is such a thing as a stomach ; 
occasionally, when suffering from hunger, they may 
remember the fact. When I say, take notice, I 
mean sufficient notice to think about the matter 
closely. The reason of this is that the process of 
digestion goes along so smoothly and quietly* as to 
be entirely unfelt or unrecognized. In such a state 
of things the food taken into the abdomen is acted 
upon by the gastric juice properly and naturally, 
converting it by means of its auxiliaries into all 
those parts of blood and water which are necessary 
to feed and keep in a proper state the flame of 
life. When, however, excess of food, or that of 
an indigestible nature, is brought in contact with 
the gastric juice, instead of being dissolved into a 



40 



natural homogeneous mass by the gastric fluid, it 
runs into a state of fermentation, producing acid and 
wind, and giving rise to symptoms of indigestion ; 
but when, on the other hand, the functions of the 
stomach become impaired so as to be incapable of 
acting upon proper food, then arises dyspepsia. 

Now it will be unnecessary to dilate upon 
the first stage of the disease, as its cause is 
simple and its cure equally so ; we will, therefore 
turn our attention entirely to the more serious one. 
First of all we will examine and explain the symp- 
toms. The patient, then, first of all begins to find 
his usual pursuits irksome and laborious ; he is 
constantly suffering from indigestion which for- 
merly he had easily been enabled to mitigate ; he 
has now but a poor and vitiated appetite ; he is not 
so strong as he used to be, and he feels Jie is 
getting into a serious state. The slightest exercise 
occasions fatigue and causes profuse perspiration ; 
his tongue is coated on the posterior part and on 
its centre with a brownish fur ; his bowels are 
either costive or relaxed ; the pulse is slow and 
small, and although it is sometimes hard, his coun- 
tenance is more pallid than usual ; the eyes appear 
swollen and the white of the eyes becomes injected 
with yellow streaks. In some cases heart-burn and 
oppression are experienced after meals, but in 
others the patient only complains of languor and 
extreme listlessness. Sometimes a sense of con- 



41 



striction is felt about the fauces, and a difficulty 
in swallowing may be experienced, as if the 
oesophagus presented some mechanical obstruction 
to the passage of food ; dizziness, unusual drowsi- 
ness, pains in the head, ringing in the ears, a disa- 
greeable taste in the mouth, an altered state of 
the salivary secretion, — being sometimes limpid, 
at others thick and ropy, — palpitation, and a 
sense of faintness are symptoms which in a greater 
or less degree affect the d}^speptic. His hands are 
sometimes hot, at others cold ; when hot they are 
dry ; when cold, damp and clammy ; his sleep is 
disturbed and broken, not only by distressing 
dreams, but by restlessness and wakefulness. 
When morning comes he awakes unrefreshed and 
is unwilling to get up, weak, with pains in the 
back and a dull pain over his eyes ; his limbs 
ache ; the muscles of the trunk are even sore to the 
touch ; and even a change in his position in bed is at- 
tended with uneasiness. Every change in the 
atmosphere is felt as a serious evil ; if it grow 
cold, he cowers over the fire and grumbles at the 
constant variability of the climate ; if it becomes 
hot, he becomes oppressed with heat; his breath 
becomes short and he perspire* freely ; his bowels 
become more and more intractable ; his usual closes 
cease to be attended with any effect ; he gradually 
increases the dose until a diarrhoea is established, 
which in turn gives way to still more obstinata 



42 



costiveness. He thinks, if he could only get a 
medicine which would keep his bowels in a proper 
state, he would be convalescent, therefore he tries 
all kinds of advertised remedies, perhaps gaining 
temporary relief, then sinks back into a more in- 
tractable state. For here lies the difficulty : his 
bowels have become so deranged that it is not easy 
to graduate a stimulant which will just correspond 
with the varj r ing state of the organs ; his spirits 
now become depressed ; he ceases to battle with 
the enemy, and, while suffering much, fancies a 
thousand times more. Wandering pains are felt 
in the bowels and side, a tenderness in the epigas- 
trium is experienced, the abdomen* is swollen out, 
a cough comes on and expectoration is difficult. 
The mind now becomes greatly oppressed ; some 
dreadful cloud or misfortune seems impending, 01 
some real trifle is magnified into a terrific form, 
and attended with such disasters as overwhelm the 
patient's mind. If he be assailed by any other dis- 
ease, he immediately believes it fatal, and grieves 
over his untimely death as though he were on his 
death-bed ; he fancies that he is diseased in the 
heart, that he has cancer, or that he has some 
pulmonary complaint. When the patient is be- 
yond the age of forty-five there is usually a 
greater defect of sight, when the functions of 
the stomach are disordered, than at an y other 
period. The urine becomes also changed and 



43 



disturbed, being high-colored or turbid, leaving 
more or less of sediment ; generally it is scanty than 
otherwise, and passed with difficulty ; sometimes, 
however, it is passed in great quantities and limpid 
as water. The skin and its functions are very 
much affected ; it is either dry and constricted or 
perspirable with feelings of cold. The skin be- 
comes very much altered, changing in an eminent 
degree the complexions of both male and female ; 
thus showing the intimate connection and extreme 
sympathy between the external surface of the 
body, and the stomach, liver, and alimentary 
canal ; thus, we often find liver affections have 
made their way through the cutaneous surface. 
One of the most striking phenomena of dyspepsia 
is the loss of flesh and muscle. This emaciation, 
of course, arises from a deficient supply of nutri- 
ment. The loss of strength is, however, out of all 
proportion to the loss of flesh. This is one of the 
characteristic features of the disease, and arises 
much more from irritation in the bowels and 
stomach than in disorder of the liver. In fine, it 
is rather a sense of debility than debility itself. 
The slightest exertion will cause such a feeling of 
weakness as will depress the patient's spirits, and 
yet an hour afterwards he may walk a mile or two 
without any trouble. This is a point which should 
carefulty be inquired into when questioning the 
patient, for in this case the trouble is irritation 



44 



rather than debility. The patient will of course 
be weak, but this debility is uniform and propor- 
tioned to the decrease of muscular fibre ; whereas, 
in the other case, the debility now under considera- 
tion is out of all proportion to the emaciation, and 
is always at its height when there is fdtod in the 
stomach or bad secretions in the intestines. The 
distinction between sympathetic debility and act- 
ual is worthy of notice, as the treatment must 
be different ; for when it is of a sympathetic nature 
wine tonics and rich food exasperate rather than 
soothe the state of existing things. 

Having now looked at the symptoms, it is evi- 
dent to every one that they are too serious to allow 
of their being endured for any length of time with 
out bringing on other and more dreadful com 
plaints and accidents. The number of these is 
legion. Among others we may mention melan- 
cholia, hypochondria, disease of the brain, dis- 
ease of the kidneys and liver, and too often 
death by suicide ; the last-mentioned calamity 
too often arising from patients endeavoring to 
obviate the disagreeables they feel by having 
injudicious recourse to bitters. The terrible ex- 
asperation of irritability which succeeds when 
the first effects of stimulation are over produce 
the greatest mental depression and misery. When 
there is simply a want of tone in the stom- 
ach, bitters, if used with care and moderation, 



45 



are serviceable ; but too often they increase in an 
incalculable degree the symptoms they were in- 
tended to cure. The patient can, however, emi- 
nently assist his physician by paying particular 
attention to diet, drink, and exercise. In such 
cases it is useless faying to bring the stomach back 
to a proper state of health at once ; it must be 
brought up step by step in almost imperceptible 
degrees. 

Dyspepsia has by some medical men been 
asserted to be found most commonly in mid- 
dle-aged and old men. Too often, however, we 
find persons of comparatively youthful frames 
suffering from all its complications. It, therefore* 
remains for us to inquire into the cause of this 
great cause of divers ailments. These of course 
are various. A naturally weakly constitution may 
first show signs of failing in the organs of diges- 
tion ; a sedentary life, where neither fresh air nor 
exercise is taken, will often bring it on ; late 
hours, late dinners and suppers, highly seasoned 
meats and sauces, the immoderate use of bitters, 
continued gluttony, the constant recourse to purga- 
tives and other medicines when not required, and, 
most frequent cause of all, masturbation. Indeed, 
in this last case, if you refer to my lecture on the 
effects of this detestable practice, you will find 
what a similarity exists between the s} r mptoms of 
dyspepsia and the effects of masturbation. In 



*6 



fact, they are combined in an inseparable degree ; 
thus showing the close connection existing between 
the function^ of the organs of generation and 
those of nutrition, and proving how the wasting 
of that matter which is prepared b}^ the agency of 
the stomach, reacts upon the nutritious process 
and functions. In like manner, the early symptoms 
of insanity resemble many of those of dyspepsia, 
and most of those of masturbation ; again proving 
how impossible it is for one part of the frame to 
suffer without causing debility and decay, more or 
less, upon all other organs from natural sympathy. 
Now, in treating dyspepsia, as in all other dis- 
eases, it is very requisite that the medical man should 
find out the origin of the complaint. Thus, one 
man may have all the dyspeptic signs which have 
arisen from sedentary habits, impure air, and per- 
haps unwholesome diet. Here, then, the derange- 
ment arises from a want of supply of necessary 
constituents to carry on the great work of diges- 
tion. The gastric juice does not receive its share 
of assistance, and becomes torpid. Again, the man 
who has lived high and had recourse to immoderate 
stimulants, has irritated and inflamed those in- 
ternal agents until they are unable to bear the 
strain upon them. But the unfortunate Onanist 
has done more than either ; he has drawn upon 
these creating agents, and, as fast as they have 
supplied him, he has wasted the most valuable and 



47 



costly composition of the human frame. The de- 
mand has surpassed the supply. Each time the 
functions become more and more tarcty, and at 
length he pays the penalty of his folly in the suf- 
ferings of dyspepsia ; sufferings much intensified, 
— for all and every part of the frame has been 
abused, and each in its own class of evils heaps 
vengeance on his unfortunate head. 

Another most worthy point in connection with 
our subject is the intimate connection between the 
mind and the stomach-. Thus, we find moral causfes 
very much influence it, such as excessive grief, 
anxiety about affairs, care, disappointment, in- 
tense thought ; all these, joined to want of exercise 
or impure air, are apt to produce the complaint of 
which we now treat. Again ; great sympathy ex- 
ists between the bowels and the skin ; thus we 
find those living in crowded cities are apt to have 
their biliary secretions deranged by change of 
atmosphere, while the impure air loaded with ex- 
halations from everything in the animal, vegetable, 
and mineral kingdoms, is swallowed or kept in con- 
tact with the skin ; the effects of which are sallow 
complexions, capricious appetites, and imperfect 
digestion. This state of things* is still further 
aggravated by the recourse which is had for its 
relief to high-seasoned dishes and stimulating 
drinks. How necessary, then, is it for all sensible 
men to pay attention to my observations upon 



48 

this disease ! and how melancholy it is to see on all 
sides such remarkable carelessness upon so impor- 
tant a subject ! As civilization has increased, so 
has, also, the host of moral and physical causes 
of disease, — those causes that are constantly in 
operation, and which, from their very nature, keep 
down the powers of digestion below the real 
standard of robust health ; and yet in the quantity 
and quality of the food we usually select, we in- 
variably choose that which would tend to impair 
these organs even if they were in a state of the 
most perfect integrity. 

As an example of the painful nature of the dys- 
peptic diseases, and in exemplification of the ne- 
cessity of a correct diagnosis as to the cause, I 
will briefly give you the following case which came 
under my treatment. This case, No. 445, was a 
young man of twenty-eight. He was, as any one 
could see, in a very critical state. His debility 
was very great ; the muscles of the trunk of his 
body were sore even to the touch. The depression 
of his spirits was such that they verged on mel- 
ancholic madness. His vision was impaired, and 
he was troubled with a painful cough, while he 
suffered from parts of a violent nature. His sleep 
was so broken by horrid dreams that, as he him- 
self said, he never looked forward to the evening 
but as to a period of terror and torment. His eyes 
were yellow and irritated, and his skin was damp 



49 



and clammy. He had already undergone a length- 
ened treatment for dyspepsia, during which he had 
been tried with calomel, carbonate of soda, rhu- 
barb bitters, and a host of other of the usual rem- 
edies, while he had been dieted most strictly for 
some time. I inquired the cause of his illness, 
and was told that it arose from a sedentary life 
and hard mental application. By taking a careful 
scrutiny into his feelings, symptoms, and examin- 
ing carefully his every appearance, I came imme- 
diately to the conclusion that this was a case 
originating in masturbation. On subsequent ex- 
amination I found I was correct. Indeed, the pa- 
tient, finding that disguise with me was worse than 
useless, acknowledged having given way formerly 
to the habit. By treating him first for sperma- 
torrhea, then, by raising the general system, I was 
finally enabled to get at disorders of the stomach, 
which, now that their cause was removed, began to 
give way to my treatment, and the patient, much 
to the surprise of others, recovered a perfect state 
of health. 

I could quote many similar cases which have 
occurred in my practice. Indeed, did the gen- 
eral public outside know or appreciate the num- 
ber, variety, and severity of diseases which con- 
stantly come under the practitioner's notice, — 
diseases which are entirely of the patient's 
own contrivance, — they would be apt to ex- 
4 



50 



claim with the bard, " Quantum stultitioe est in 
mundo." 

In conclusion, I would beg of my hearers to 
listen to the voice of warning, — a warning and 
advice which, if followed, will preserve them from 
such difficulties and disagreeables as none but he 
who has suffered them can appreciate. If, as I 
have before said, you will only study and then 
obey the laws of nature, of the system, and of 
hygiene, you may preserve your health, strength, 
and energy even up to old age. It is not enough 
that you abstain from the more palpable and dan- 
gerous forms of self-abuse ; you must ever pay 
attention to cleanliness, dress, diet, exercise, and 
relaxation. Do this, and you will be able to laugh 
at the terrors of hypochondria, and all those of 
dyspepsia will be powerless to assail you. And I 
would especially impress upon the young the close 
relation between mind and body. Where the one 
becomes impaired, the other must suffer ; therefore 
the best path to success through life is that which 
can be trodden alone by sound and robust health. 
Would that this might be engraven on every heart ! 
And with this wish I now conclude^ 

51 Hancock St., Boston, Mass. 






LECTURE ON DIABETES 



Gentlemen : The subject which we have under 
our consideration this evening is one which de- 
mands great attention, not only from professional 
men, but also from the public generally ; for 
when we take into consideration the causes which 
superinduce them, their painful nature, and their 
general frequency, it becomes a duty to throw 
all the light we can upon them. The subject 
then is Diabetes and other urinary complaints. In 
a former lecture upon the effects of masturbation 
I mentioned a number of urinary complaints 
which invariably followed the detestable practice ; 
amongst others strangury and dysuria. We will, 
therefore, this evening examine into and analyze 
these disorders ; for the more man's knowledge is 
increased on physiological matters, the more care 
will he take to preserve a machine which is so 
complicated ; and as the painful results which 
must overtake the careless or sensual abuser of 
nature's laws are placed before his eyes, it will 
tend to warn him from those pitfalls which, through 
ignorance, he is liable to fall into. 

61 



52 



With these prefatory remarks, ^e will at once 
enter upon the first of our subjects, namely, Dia- 
betes. This disease, then, is usually found in 
the aged, though it may occasionally be met> 
with in young persons. Medical men differ re- 
specting the cause ; experience, however, teaches 
me, and eminent authorities support me in my 
opinion, that the predisposing and exciting causes 
are chiefly such as produce derangement of the 
digestive organs and debilitate the general system, 
— as the abuse of spirituous liquors, cold applied to 
the body, immoderate evacuations, unwholesome 
diet, and the extensive use of mercury ; whilst not 
unfrequently it follows long-continued self-abuse, 
adding another to the many punishments which 
attend this detestable practice. The disease itself 
is accompanied with a considerable discharge of 
urine, for the most part excessive in quantity, of 
a violet smell, sweet taste, attended with great 
thirst and general symptoms of debility. It often 
makes its first advances insidiously, the patient 
being affected for weeks without his being aware 
of its presence. Patients affected have usually 
voracious appetites, insatiable thirst, a dry, harsh 
skin, a clammy tongue, a sense of weight about 
the loins, and frequently their bodies emit a hay- 
like odor. The kidneys discharge a limpid fluid, 
tinged with green, like a mixture of honey and 
water, and possessing a sweet taste, more or less 



53 



observable ; the pulse beats quicker, the flesh 
wastes rapidly, and in an advanced stage of the 
illness, the feet and legs swell, and the skin be- 
comes cold and damp ; a troublesome costiveness 
"frequently attends, and sometimes an affection of 
the lungs. The quantity of urine voided is im- 
mense, and I have seen cases where as much as 
twelve quarts of urine have been evacuated in 
twenty-four hours. 

The immediate cause of diabetes may, in short, 
be set down to the morbid action of the stomach 
and the other digestive organs. Its distinguishing 
feature is the presence of sugar in the urine. 
The disease itself arises from a deficiency of animal 
salts in the urine. If, therefore, we wish to cope 
successfully with the disease and effect .a cure, we 
must stop the original cause, if it still continues, 
and then proceed to give back to the patient those 
human ingredients which he lacks. This may be 
effected, in whole or in part, by dieting the patient 
on light, easily digested animal food, to the almost 
total exclusion of every kind of vegetable matter, 
together with the use of tonic, astringent, and nar- 
cotic medicines. Where the patient has been a 
man of dissolute habits, especially where he has 
indulged in venery, or, worse still, self-abuse, the 
disease is always apt to be worse, not only in 
itself, but it is apt to be complicated with other 
diseases of a painful nature, which very mucb 



54 



diminish the chances of cure. As we have several 
other urinary diseases to take notice of, we cannot 
afford time sufficient to expatiate more fully upon 
the diabetic disease. 

The next evil we come to, in connection with 
our subject, is the loss of blood during the making 
of water. This may be occasioned by external 
violence, as blows or bruises, or the consequence 
of very violent exercise, or the result of irritation 
of the bladder, and it may and constantly does 
arise from excessive self-abuse. Sometimes the 
flow of blood is so great as to cause an alarming 
debility. If we find the disease arises from sud- 
den violence, notwithstanding the serious nature 
of the blow, we yet find much more facility in ob- 
taining cure, than where the patient has gradually 
fallen into it from excessive self-indulgence. In 
the treatment of the disease we are of course to 
guide ourselves by the cause. When occasioned 
by external injury or violence, the inflammation 
must be decreased by mild purgatives and diluent 
liquors. When the result of abuse, the cause must 
be at once ended, and those parts which have 
fallen into debility and decay must be again, if 
possible, built up and renovated. As this malady 
diminishes, the patient is apt to fall into another 
affection, which is called incontinence of urine. 

This disease may arise from various causes. In 
very old people, whose organs have become relaxed 



55 



from excessive old age, we naturally find it in a 
greater or lesser degree ; and, of course, arising 
from the natural weakness of senility, is not easily 
prevented or cured. Where, however, it arises from 
abuse of acidulous mineral waters, hysterical and 
epileptic paroxysms, or injuries of the head or com- 
atose diseases, the case is far different. When in- 
duced by palsy, the disease cannot be removed, 
though some relief may be given the patient. And 
here, again, where the disease arises from sensuality, 
we find trouble in arresting it, for it then takes 
the nature of senile weakness. The old man 
yields to it through weakness of his organs, or 
weakness produced by length of years. The j r oung 
Onanist is affected by it from the same weakness 
of the parts, but a weakness and decay brought on 
prematurely by excessive indulgence and abuse. 
Jfc sometimes arises from stone in the bladder. 
Where such is the case, the stone must be removed. 
In scirrhus of the gland, the cure is very difficult, — 
some medical writers affirm to be impossible ; but 
in my own experience, where the originating cause 
has received its proper attention from the physi- 
cian, and where the patient himself has sought 
advice early and followed it closely, cure has cer- 
tainly been effected from incontinence of urine. 

We will now turn to the opposite disease, which 
is opposite to it in name and nature ; this is 
called retention of urine. There are two dif- 



56 



ferent states of the disease, in which the urine 
is not passed properly, — that wherein the kidneys 
do not secrete it, or where, after secretion and 
conveying into the bladder, it is not discharged 
from that cavity. It is this last affection which is 
denominated retention of urine. The distinguish- 
ing symptom is a swelling at the lower part of the 
belly, occasioned by the distended bladder, and 
this accompanied with pain or pressure and lack 
of urine either partial or total. By examina- 
tion of the abdomen and the introduction of the 
catheter, the true state of things may easily be 
ascertained. It is of considerable importance 
that every one should pass water whenever he 
feels a desire to do so. As some persons fall 
into the habit of retaining it longer than nature 
intended, the result of their careless inattention to 
the requirements of nature often ends in what is 
called palsy of the bladder, and they then, when 
too late, find out the folly of their habitual disre- 
gard of the laws which govern the system. Re- 
tention sometimes originates in the more virulent 
forms of typhus fever. Again, it sometimes comes 
on from extreme debility, which hinders the pa- 
tient from completely emptying the bladder, so 
that he still feels a desire to do so ; this inconven- 
ience increases until at length the patient becomes 
entirely incapable of discharging it at all ; the 
bladder then becomes distended and rises above 



57 



the pubes. This form of the disease is most com- 
mon amongst those who have abused themselves by 
masturbation. The terrible strain upon the organs 
has so weakened them that they cease to be able to 
fulfil their proper functions ; and when we take into 
consideration the extreme delicacy of these parts, 
and the strain upon them in the wear and tear of 
natural life, it becomes a matter of wonder, not 
that they break down under the double pressure 
and work which they have to undergo, but that 
they are able to continue to discharge their proper 
functions as long as they do. When the organs 
are in a sound state, that is, uninjured by gross 
indulgence, the introduction of the catheter and 
the relief of the bladder will frequently be all that 
is required to cure the disease ; but, in the other 
case, nothing but great experience and a long 
course of medical attention will enable the patient 
co recover what he has sacrificed to the grossest 
passions. Could men generally see the results of 
sensuality as the professional man sees them, and 
could they, with his knowledge, understand the 
nature, cause, and effect of the ills that flesh is heir 
to, and fully appreciate the delicate organization and 
regular functions of each vital agent, how they would 
start back from the commission of such acts of folly 
as may inflict upon themselves years of suffering 
and uneasiness ! And yet it is this very knowledge 
which must be given to them ; not that professional 



58 



knowledge which years of careful study and expe 
rience alone give the doctor ; but that general and 
easily acquired knowledge which may teach man 
the wonders of his own existence, and that code of 
laws which governs the wonderful mechanism, and 
which, like that of Draco, may be said to be writ- 
ten in blood. 

To return to our subject. We next find stem- 
gury to be one of those evils which are too common 
among men. Strangury, then, is a constant desire 
to make water ; which, when made, is attended 
with great difficulty and intense pain. Like all 
other complaints, its causes are various. It may 
arise from inflammation of the urethra, of the 
bladder, or of other neighboring parts, from inter- 
nal use of cantharides, excess in drinking spirituous 
liquors, or from gravel in the passage. It is also 
sometimes a symptom of gout ; but it is most gener- 
ally of all caused by the weakening of the genital 
functions from that terrible self-abuse, the results 
and effects of which obtrude upon us at every 
pathological step we take. The application of a 
blister, in connection with cantharides, will some- 
times bring it about, in which case the patient is 
soon recovered by drinking plentifully of diluent 
liquors. Here, as in every other class of disease, 
its continuance and gravity will mainly depend 
upon the originating cause, and with this the phy- 
sician must acquaint himself. Thus, if the stran- 



59 



gury arise from inflammation, cooling purgatives 
and fomentations will often bring things to a proper 
status ; if, however, from spasm, opiates must 
be resorted to ; but where it arises from self-pol- 
lution, the case becomes graver. The disease in 
this case has not originated in an inflammation or 
spasm, which at once may be allayed or rectified ; 
but it has arisen from the feebleness of those vital 
functions which are necessar} 7 to carry on the 
works of nature. Here, then, we have to build 
them up, to bring them back to their proper vigor. 
We have to work on agents which are weak and 
debilitated, and we have first to raise them up to a 
certain vitality before we can b^in our work of 
cure. Such cases must needs be more protracted 
than others. In practice we meet with them so 
constantly that one would think their frequency 
would act as a check and restraint, in fact a warn- 
ing, to others to beware of the results of bad hab- 
its. Unfortunately, however, youth, under the 
present system of restricting physiological knowl- 
edge, is not aware of the miseries which they 
are inflicting on themselves ; and therefore it 
becomes the duty of those who, by profession 
and experience, are enabled to appreciate the 
extent of the injuries so arising, to warn the un- 
professional public, and by warning and advice 
lessen the terrible evils which are increasing in 
our midst. 



60 



The next affection I would call attention to is 
Dysuria. This is a pain, or difficulty in making 
water, and, like all others, arises from various 
causes, which require different modes of treatment. 
Sometimes it arises in inflammation of the urethra, 
or neck of the bladder ; sometimes from spasm, in 
which case we must use anti-spasmodic treatment. 
If from stone in the bladder, it cannot be cured 
until the stone be removed. And again, it often 
arises from the debilitating nature of self-pollution ; 
in which case, as in the former one, and for the 
same reasons, cure will be retarded until the sys- 
tem is in part restored to a proper state of vitality. 
In some cases the pain is more severe than others, 
being sometimes so intense as to cause the patient 
even to shriek with agony. 

As many of the urinary complaints owe their 
origin to inflammation of the kidneys or bladder, 
we will now turn our attention to these serious 
complications. Inflammation of the kidneys is 
marked by uneasiness, a dull pain about the loins, 
and sometimes stupor; the urine becomes of a 
reddish color, often bloody, and is voided frequently 
in small quantities ; the disease is attended with 
vomiting, costiveness, difficulty of breathing, and 
coldness in the extremities. The markworthy point 
in the result of this disease is that, if it attack se- 
verely a person of broken-down constitution, it 
most commonly gives rise to dropsy, either «ster 



61 



nally or of f he abdomen, and, in such case of fee- 
ble vitality, it often terminates fatally in apoplexy. 
This disease may be induced by cold, by the use 
of powerful diuretics, by excessive drink, by con- 
tusions and sprains and gravel ; but one thing 
must not be lost sight of, and that is, that in most 
cases the kidneys are in a diseased state from some 
other cause, and it is that which makes them liable 
to inflammation. In its treatment, the disease 
requires prompt and early attention ; for, if neg- 
lected or mismanaged, an irremediable disorgan- 
ization of the kidneys ensues, which finally ter- 
minates in death ; while, again, much will de- 
pend upon the patient's constitution, and the med- 
ical man must guide himself by this, as the reme- 
dies to be employed in the case of strong, robust, 
and weak, debilitated systems are very different. 
And here again do we find remarkably exemplified 
my remarks about the necessity for obedience to 
nature's laws. If the patient has been a man who 
has respected his health and strength, and has 
never given way to abuses of any kind, but has 
carefully preserved and cherished those qualities 
of body and mind which Providence blessed him 
with, now, in the hour of sickness, when disease 
has thrown him down, when his energies have be- 
come torpid from the exhaustion of the malady, 
and when death seems ready to seize upon its 
prey, — then it is that unabused nature arises in 



62 



its majesty to grapp.e with the stern king of ter- 
rors ; then it is that he reaps the full benefit of his 
temperance and self-control, and the. physician has 
the satisfaction of seeing his own efforts warmly 
seconded and supported by that greatest of all 
recuperators, Nature. How different is his case 
who has run the round of guilty pleasures, sap- 
ping his health and wasting his energies ! Now 
he falls upon the bed of sickness, and looks with 
imploring eye upon that medical science whose 
warnings and exhortations he has so often de- 
spised ; but, alas ! it is now too late. In vain the 
physician tries to rally the exhausted frame. Na- 
ture, too long abused, lies torpid, unable to make 
even one vigorous effort at restoration, and so fol- 
lows dropsy or apoplexy and death. The world 
sets down another victim to disease, but truth re- 
cords another victim to sensuality and self-abuse. 

From inflammation of the kidneys we will now 
turn to inflammation of the bladder : this is indicated 
by a sense of tension and pain in the situation of 
that organ ; there is a frequent desire, and consid* 
erable difficulty in discharging the urine, often a 
suppression entire, with frequent ineffectual efforts 
to evacuate the bowels, occasioned by the irritation 
extending to the rectum. These symptoms are 
attended with fever, sickness, and vomiting ; great 
anxiety and restlessness, sometimes delirium, and 
clammy perspirations ensue. The lining mem 



63 



brane of the bladder is likewise occasionally af- 
fected with a chronic inflammation. In such a 

• 

csrse, there is a dull, uneasy sensation, frequent 
desire to pass urine, which is generally thick from 
being loaded with mucus sometimes bloody ; or, 
if ulceration has set in, it is mixed with matter ; 
the coats of the bladder often, when affected with 
chronic inflammation, thickened, indurated, and 
otherwise disorganized, giving to the patient great 
uneasiness referable to these parts, and causing a 
constant inclination to urinate, or a total suppres- 
sion of it. Here, again, the medical adviser must 
carefully consult the patient's constitution ; he must 
be careful to work with nature at every step and 
stage of the disease. The causes which lead to 
this illness are of course varied. Unlimited sexual 
indulgence, whether natural or artificial, but more 
especially the latter, will often bring on this train 
of symptoms. The disease is itself generally 
amenable to medical art. If, however, not care- 
fully treated, it may be apt to return, in which 
case danger is incurred, as the constant repetition 
of inflammation of the bladder is likely to superin- 
duce a long train of evils which may be incurable. 
Having, in the course of my remarks, touched 
several times upon stone and gravel, it may be as 
well, whilst on this subject, to give them some 
share of attention. Urine, then, is in a state of 
health one of the most compound fluids which there 



64 



is ; it consists of various acids, alkalies, calcareous 
earth, and other materials. It is natural, there- 
fore, that when exposed, as man constantly is, to 
deteriorating influence, a change should often oc- 
cur in the urine, and the natural affinity between 
these various elements which compose it be sub- 
verted and give rise to a deposition of one or 
other of them. When this occurs it produces the 
complaint called gravel. The markworthy feature 
in gravel is that there are two kinds, one red and 
the other white, and, as they proceed from different 
causes, they require a different mode of treatment. 

Red gravel disease is highly inflammatory. In 
the white gravel the symptoms are more distress 
ing and give rise to great irritability of the system 
and derangement of the digestive organs generally ; 
the face becomes sallow and haggard, and, as the 
disease spreads, symptoms analogous to those of 
diabetes begin to appear, such as languor and de- 
pression of spirits. The predisposing causes of 
gravel are hereditary tendency, general indolence, 
or a sedentary life, excessive indulgence in fer- 
mented liquors. The chief cause, however, is in a 
want of constitutional vigor. A cold and variable 
climate often becomes a cause of this complaint. 

Stone, or calculi in the bladder, is a much more 
serious complaint. They differ much in form, size, 
and color. The symptoms attendant are a sort of 
itching along the urethra, particularly at the end 



65 



of the glands, frequent propensities to make water, 
pain in voiding the mine. Bat as all these symp- 
toms are to be met with in other diseases, the 
careful surgeon will not decide there is a stone in 
the bladder until with a sound — a polished steel 
rod — introduced through the urethra he has actualty 
felt it. This disease, though a serious one, yields 
to skilful treatment. When, however, it obsti- 
nately refuses to be cured, but one measure remains, 
and that is by extraction. The operation is, how- 
ever, a dangerous one. The size of the stone is 
sometimes very large. 

Time will not allow of our protracting our sub- 
ject any further. Enough has been shown to con- 
vince the most careless observer that we in a great 
measure hold our life and health and strength in 
our own hands, if we obey the dictates of rea- 
son, — that reason which was given to enable 
man to shun things hurtful and improper. If we 
obey the great laws of nature, and neither abuse 
our strength by actual abuse or neglect, then shall 
we enjoy a state of comfort and happiness that 
will make our life here below pleasant and com- 
fortable ; and then, when dark clouds of disease 
and sickness throw themselves upon the frail bark 
of life, the guiding hand of nature, aided by medi- 
cal science will pilot the bark over the wild, tu- 
multuous waves to a harbor of recovery and health. 

51 Hancock Street, Boston, Mass. 
5 



LECTURE ON INSANITY. 



Gentlemen : I have the honor to inform you that 
Dr. Jourdain's lecture on madness will be read 
this evening. As delivered by him in England and 
Paris, of course there are many technicalities and 
long scientific observations which will not be in- 
telligible to the unprofessional public ; therefore 
Dr. Jourdain has simplified and abbreviated much 
which otherwise might have seemed unintelligible 
to the present audience. 

Gentlemen, our subject is madness. Now, what 
is this frightful calamity which assails the hu- 
man frame, and whence comes it? If we look 
back into past history, we find that the disease, as 
a whole, is by no means modern. Thus, the great- 
est of ancient times, and many others, suffered 
under its partial or concentrated influence ; but 
if we turn from the past to the present, — that 
present with which every medical m&n is, or 
ought to be, more interested than the past, — 
then we find (even allowing for multiplicity of 
inhabitants) the disease frightfully increased ; and 
what is the reason of this increase? Some have 

66 



67 



declared that, us civilization advanced, the strain 
upon the brain increased, and also the weakening 
effect upon it from over-indulgence ; others, that as 
families married and intermarried, the blood became 
degenerated, whence proceeded madness. But, alas ! 
however satisfactory to some superficial medical ob- 
servers this diagnosis or theory might appear, we 
ourselves require far more tangible reasons, and, 
in looking for them, in practice have found suffi- 
cient to confirm the assertions of some medical 
writers, and to refute the works of others. 

The brain of man is that portion of him which, 
oy its delicate organization, its superior powers, 
and its extra nervous force, iorcls it over the 
rest of the body, and exalts the creature to a 
nearer resemblance to its Divine Creator. The 
brain itself is an agglomeration of delicate cells 
in intimate connection with minute tubes or fila 
ments, which communicate impressions made upon 
the cells at one end to those which lie on the 
other. The mass may be generally called the nerve 
apparatus. But it may be asked for what purpose 
is this apparatus ? Its purpose is the perception 
of sensations of all kinds, the power of comparing 
these sensations, the power of combining them so 
as to form fresh imaginations, and the power of 
feeling emotions and propensities. The activity of 
the vesicular nervine is the occasion of all these 
capabilities. These little cells of the brain are 



68 



what is called the mind, the agents of our sense 
tions, and thoughts, and desires. The gray sub- 
stance of the human brain contains millions of 
vesicles lying in a semi-fluid, granulated substance, 
and bound together by a minute network of blood- 
vessels, and fine areola tissue. Now, the mark- 
worthy points in the relative position of the brain- 
cell are, first, its proximity to the nerve-tube from 
which and to which it conveys impressions, the 
taking of which causes its exhaustion. Second, its 
proximity to the blood capillary, which exudes a 
plasma in which the cell is bathed and renovated, 
and from which new cells are formed to replace those 
which are finally exhausted ; so long as the brain is 
acted upon by the rest of the body regularly and 
properly, so long will the brain-cells be renovated by 
a natural arrangement ; but when excessively stim- 
ulated, the renovating power is not sufficient to 
keep pace with the exhaustion, and so diseases of 
the brain are engendered. 

In speaking of the brain, so far we have merely 
touched upon the brain proper, or convolutions of 
the cerebrum. The cerebellum and central masses 
of gray matter are subservient to motion alone, or 
by impressions upon the nerves of sensation ; 
whilst the medullary substance of the brain is 
merely a conducting medium. From this we find 
that disease may exist in these without necessarily 



69 



destroying the mind. Sensation may be affected, 
but judgment may be left intact. 

Having shown the delicate construction of the 
mind, and its close connection with every vital 
part, it must evidently be apt to be injured and 
impaired ; and yet its renovating powers are such, 
that in reality it is, unless very much abused, al- 
most more powerful than any other part. When 
from any cause it does become injured, then mad- 
ness, of course, occurs, and it becomes the medical 
man's duty to discover the cause, remove it if pos- 
sible, and then assist nature in renovating the 
parts injured. The most difficult, or rather that 
which the greater part of the medical faculty think 
the most difficult, is in the discovery of the cause and 
its removal. Those, however, who have, like my- 
self, made a specialty of the diseases arising from 
solitary or sexual abuse, and have a large experi- 
ence in such matters, seldom find much difficulty 
in finding and pointing out one of the greatest 
causes ; and I am happy to say that the fact is now 
becoming generally recognized. However, we find 
the talented and learned medical keeper of the 
Asylum of Devonshire, and editor of the " Journal 
of Medical Science," in his otherwise excellent 
work on madness, gives the following table of 
causes of madness. He divides them under two 
heads, namely, physical and moral ; a division which 
must be open to objection, as they are so inti* 



70 



mately connected as often hardly to allow of defi- 
nition and separation. Mr. Parcleappe has also, I 



see, done the same thing, 



Dr. Tuke says, from his experience, the physical 
causes of madness bear this proportion to each 
other : — 



Physical Causes. 




Moral Causes. 




Epilepsy, 


68 


Disappointed affections, 


53 


Intemperance, 


" 164 


Domestic troubles, 


241 


Vice, 


% 40 


Grief, 


88 


Injuries to head, 


4 


Religious excitement, 


56 


Disease of the brain, 


14 


Political excitement, 


34 


Other diseases, 


18 


Wounded feelings, 


84 


Uterine, 


45 


Fright, 


48 


Old age, 


8 


Over study, 


8 


Mercury, 


3 







364 



612 



Now here, at once, without any explanation, we 
see at a glance that the table, as to the cause, is a 
very imperfect one. The actual* leading cause is 
given, but the original and primary one is lost 
sight of. I will, therefore, give you the result 
of my own experience and inquiries ; and I can 
point to eminent authorities who have not only 
agreed with me fully, but have even quoted from 
my own published report. At the Asylum of St. 
Gore, the cases ran similar to that of the Devon- 
shire above quoted. 

Although the numbers were larger, the causes 
bore the same relative proportions to each other. 
But on close inquiry I found that in addition to 



71 



the large number who were lunatic from actual 
self-abuse, upwards of one-third of the epileptic 
cases had originated in masturbation. Nearly 
one-half the intemperate, the same ; disappointed 
affection, two-fifths ; religious excitement, very 
nearly three-fourths ; wounded feelings, two-thirds ; 
and of over-study I found every individual of these 
had weakened his brain by vicious indulgence. 

How absurd is it to argue for an instant that that 
godlike brain which is naturally so active, so power, 
ful, so indefatigable, should be broken down by the 
griefs, trials, and cares, which are of e very-day oc- 
currence ! If we acknowledge these to be actual 
causes, why do not thousands more of our fellow- 
creatures break down and retire to the asylum when 
grief, trouble, love, excitement, or wounded feelings 
overtake them ? No, gentlemen ; the brain has suf- 
fered either from hereditary taint, injury, disease, 
or, most prolific cause of all, masturbation ; then, 
when overtaken with the usual trials of life, it has 
no power to meet them. 

To return to my report on St. Gore : by care- 
fully following up my inquiries, I found that 
whereas only about one-tenth of the patients were 
the actual victims of self-abuse, upwards of one- 
half of the whole number owed their insanity, 
originally, to this fearful practice. On the au- 
thority of the Thirteenth Report (Victoria, Aus- 
tralia), we find one hundred and forty-five cases 



72 



are set down as the direct result of masturba- 
tion. It goes on to say, this secret vice produces 
the very worst form of insanity ; because after 
insanity has supervened the crime is continued, and 
hence the energies are more prostrated. Again, we 
find that out of two hundred and seventy-one males 
and twenty-nine female patients from this detestable 
practice, upwards of one hundred and ninety-seven 
males are hopelessly incurable. In all the re- 
ports on lunacy that have come under my no- 
tice, and in all my large experience, I have never 
heard or seen where a medical man has lost his 
reason from this cause ; thus proving that a physi- 
ological knowledge will always act as a check and 
a restraint. 

We will now turn from the causes of insanity 
to an examination of its different forms. Be- 
fore doing so, however, I think it cannot but be 
interesting to cite a case in point, showing 
where madness had been set clown to the wrong 
cause, and the impossibility of cure while such 
is the case. The case was one in Dr. Burnet's pri- 
vate asylum. The patient, a man of about twen- 
ty-six, had been of a studious mind, and, after 
being at Oxford, was sent home, study being inju- 
rious to his health. His faculties soon became 
impaired, and he was placed in Dr. B.'s hands. 
So far from becoming better, he seemed fast sink- 
ing into a hopeless state, when his parents, who 



73 



were wealthy, determined to get other advice ; 
and several eminent medical men consulted on the 
case, apparently without coming to any definite 
result. At this period, the father happened to 
come upon one of my published lectures upon 
emotional insanity, and I was forthwith invited to 
join in consultation. I found that all my confreres 
accepted as an established fact that the disease 
was the result of an overtaxed brain. I, however, 
would only accept it as an effect?, and, after a 
careful examination, proved not only to my sat- 
isfaction, but, what was better still, to the satis- 
faction of my colleagues, that this was the result 
of Onanism. The patient was forthwith placed 
under my charge, and by changing the treatment 
and exercising a strict surveillance over him, he 
was restored to sanity, and as far as I know, has 
never relapsed. 

The various forms of insanity have been dif- 
ferently classified by different authors. Amongst 
these, Dr. Arnold has given an elaborate table of 
distinctions. But my own experience shows that 
he has rather specified the different results arising 
from forms of insanity than the actual symptoms 
themselves. 

Dr. Tuke's classification comes nearest to my 
own views upon the subject; but he again after- 
wards fails in classifying the original causes. Ilia 
table runs thus : Class 1. The intellect, — forms of 



74 



insanity, idiocy, imbecility, dementia, and mono* 
mania. As the disease increases, delusions, illu- 
sions, and hallucinations. Class 2. Arise from 
xaoral sentiments, — moral idiocy, moral imbecil- 
ity, moral insanity, melancholia ; further develop- 
ments, religious, hypochondriacal, nostalgic. Class 
3. Affect the sentiments, and come under the 
head of mania, which may be subdivided again in- 
to six different kinds, such as homicidal, suicidal, 
dyspnomania (or excessive love of drink), etc. 

As my hearers may not be able to distinguish 
between these different forms, I will briefly define 
them. Idiocy proper is that form of madness 
where every appearance of thought and under- 
standing is entirely blotted out; imbecility im- 
plies a childishness ; dementia is marked by the 
abolition, more or less marked, of all the senses, 
intellect, and will ; moral imbecility is that im- 
becility arising from moral causes, chiefly mastur- 
bation, or intemperance ; moral insanity is a 
more active and ardent form of the former ; whilst 
melancholia is a state of utter hopelessness and 
constant tear, chiefly arising from self-abuse, or 
else the result of incipient madness ; mania is the 
most ardent state, and takes the form of murder, 
violence, and outrage. Time and space will not 
allow us to go into minute details. I must there- 
fore confine n^self more particularly to the prin- 
cipal cause and causes of insanity, — that first link 



75 



in the chain which has not sufficiently been inquired 
into by the general faculty. Thus we find the great 
Dr. Connally, in describing cases of melancholia, 
says their chief propensities are indolence and in- 
difference ; they exclaim, " Once I was industri- 
ous, now I am worthless ; the world is changed ; it 
does not seem as it used to ; all good has gone out 
of me." Young men and women thus affected 
cease to be interested in anything ; they are averse 
to going into society, they shun everybody ; one 
propensity alone remains, that is, self-destruction. 
Long afterwards, the same writer acknowledged 
that these symptoms were inseparable from long- 
continued self-abuse. At that time he ignored it. 
We have before said that whilst there are forms of 
madness the actual result of self-abuse, there are 
others which have arisen from other causes, them- 
selves originating in masturbation. Thus Esqui- 
val classes some of these, though unwittingly, un- 
der the head of reasoning monomania. He says 
we distinguish three periods in it. In the first, the 
disposition and habits are changed ; memory fails. 
In the second, the affections are perverted. Third, 
a weakening of the faculties leads the monomaniac 
to dementia. Of the numbers of cases of rea- 
soning (so called) dementia, which have come 
under my own practice, I have met with but three 
who had not been reduced to their state by self- 
pollution. 



76 



A very interesting case occurred, where the 
symptoms baffled several highly esteemed physi- 
cians, entirely owing to their having preferred the 
old beaten path of practice on insanity, instead of 
stud3 T ing moral causes and physical for them- 
selves. A gentleman holding a high position in 
England, possessed of wealth, and married to an 
excellent wife, had gradually fallen into a state of 
absorbing melancholy ; which, although causing 
pain and uneasiness to his family, was not sup- 
posed to be serious, and was thought to arise from 
care. After a while, however, he evidentty grew 
worse, spent restless nights, frequently talked to 
himself, shed tears, and evinced a perfect indiffer- 
ence to his wife and children. Medical advice was 
called in, and, after some consultations, it was de- 
cided that his was a simple case of melancholia. 
Under the treatment he received, a slight altera- 
tion for the better took place. He then relapsed 
into a state of delusory insanity, — imagined him- 
self dead, his wife married to somebody else, and 
he, in spirit, compelled to witness her connubial 
enjoyments. The case becoming more serious, 
other advice was callec. in, the affectionate wife 
refusing to allow him tc be taken to the asylum. 
Notwithstanding every effort, the patient was evi- 
dently becoming worse, — in fact, lapsing into a 
stage of mania which might be dangerous to life. 
At this stage of the disease I was admitted to 



77 



consultation, and immediately recognized the pri- 
mary incentive. Still not one of my confreres seemed 
able to decide. In fact, they had busied them- 
selves more about the symptoms than the cause ; 
thus rather lopping off the branches than striking 
at the root of the disease. The three causes, how- 
ever, which seemed to find most favor with my 
colleague, were over-mental exertion, intemperance, 
or the effects of severe illness. I immediately 
sought an interview with the patient, and, although 
careful to avoid all appearance of medical inter- 
ference, I could see, by his shrewdness and suspi- 
cion, that his faculties were rather unduly excited 
than impaired ; and I soon found that the whole 
of his derangement lay in some exciting and de- 
pressing object upon his brain, resulting in some 
physical cause. With some difficulty I got him 
to place himself under my care, and soon discov- 
ered, by examination, that the patient was impo- 
tent, his testicles being fearfully reduced. By the 
judicious use of baths and medicines, I succeeded 
in arresting the terrible mental excitement, and as 
this became sufficiently allayed to allow of kind 
and soothing conversations upon his state of 
health, I succeeded in calming the fearful despair 
which had assailed him : hope once more took the 
place of terrible gloom ; his spirits began to rise ; 
and the most affectionate letters began to pass 
between him and his wife. He seemed, as he 



78 



himself afterwards described it, to have suddenly 
awoke from a fearful nightmare to the bright and 
brilliant light of broad day. Acting upon my ad- 
vice he remained with me a few weeks longer, and 
then went back home physically and mentally 
well. 

Now, this case was not the result of any won- 
derful improvement or discovery either in medi- 
cine or medical art. It was simply the result of 
experience in detecting and removing the true 
cause of disease ; and this, gentlemen, is the 
Alpha and Omega of every curative system. In 
this case, had not the terrible results of self-abuse 
been a specialty of mine, I, too, would have failed, 
as the others did, in my diagnosis, and this unfor- 
tunate gentleman would now be in an asylum 
or his grave. How necessary is it> then, for 
us, to instruct our medical students in a more 
comprehensive course of study than at present 
exists ! How imperatively necessary is it for us, as 
exponents of me'clical science, to inquire into and 
discover and discriminate between cause and ef- 
fect ! Within the last few years a general exami- 
nation into insane statistics shows a fearful in- 
crease of nearly twenty-five per cent., while the 
moral causes of insanity are more than double 
the physical. Some writers have set down much 
of this increase of moral insanity to the use of 
sensational writings, religious revivals, and the 



79 



wear and tear of speculation ; but if we accept 
these as results, why has not the number of insane 
increased fifty per cent. ? Why do so many read 
books, attend revivals, and push on a furious trade 
without injury to themselves ? The reason is be- 
cause their minds and brains are strong, unim- 
paired by that enervating influence which is sap- 
ping the mental faculties of so many. And what 
is the cause which is thus eating into our na- 
tional intellect? That is the subject for medical 
attention, and until it receives the amount due its 
importance, the statistics will mount up, in spite 
of all the restoratives and alteratives of the most 
copious materia medica. 

It is with considerable satisfaction that I read to 
you the following extract from a letter, written by 
the talented medical superintendent of the Insane 
Asylum at Havre : — 

" Dear Sir, — A case of a painful nature came 
under my treatment some time since. The patient, 
a young man aged twenty-nine, was placed under 
my care, he- having become insane through reading 
the French translation of the works of Doctor 
Cummings. Up to that period, though of a mel- 
ancholy and absent frame of mind, he had never 
evinced any mental alienation. After this, how-' 
ever, he was seized with the most vigorous form of 
religious mania, fancying himself the subject 



80 



of sacred prophecies, and the object of Satanic 
possession. My endeavors to soothe and relieve 
him were, however, useless, when having fortu- 
nately met with your lecture, entitled, " Causes of 
Religious Insanity " (which at the time of my first 
reading I did not entirely agree with), I deter- 
mined to adopt your own course of inquiry into 
the cause, and found that this was another of those 
melancholy cases which medical science has too 
often overlooked. The result was that, — thanks to 
your valuable advice, — I was enabled to restore his 
mind to its proper balance, and his body to that 
state of health which his own sensuality had nearly 
deprived him of." 

I read this letter, especially as the author of it 
had, at the first appearance of my lectures on this 
subject, been not only very dubious of, but even 
very much opposed to, the reformation I sought to 
introduce. 

There is another important fact, and one which 
in itself carries conviction as to the chief cause of 
insanity, and that is that the unmarried kisane are 
infinitely more numerous than the married. By 
statistics taken from the census of the population of 
England of 1857, the number of married persons 
is double the single ; and yet of patients admit- 
ted to the asylum we find the unmarried in the ma- 
jority. What, then, is the cause of this? Mar- 



81 



riage certainly increases the cares and trials of 
life, and one would therefore be led to suppose 
that it would rather tend towards insanity than 
otherwise. . The cause evidently is, then, the 
frequency of solitary vice and masturbation among 
the unmarried. Again, we find the number of 
suicides far greater among single persons, — an- 
other distressing proof of the cause which leads 
to it. 

We will now examine the painful physical results 
of masturbation ; and the very appearance and 
number of them will be sufficient to convince every 
professional or unprofessional person that they can- 
not be suffered long without producing insanity in 
one form or another. 

The results, then, every Onanist must sooner or 
later experience, arc loss of memory, nervousness, 
restlessness, lack of energy, want of judgment, 
want of purpose, confusion of ideas, aversion to 
society, depression of spirits, excitability of tem- 
per, moroseness, cowardice, listlessness, pains 
in the head, pains over the eyes, frequent sigh- 
ings, secret dread, broken rest, want of confi- 
dence, dimness of sight, confused noises in the 
head, and constant suspicion. Such are the 
symptoms, gentlemen, which follow masturbation, 
and so also are they the symptoms which pre- 
cede madness. Who, then, can for a moment 
wonder what is the origin and reason of the in- 



82 



crease in lunacy? The reason is, gentlemen, — » 
and let the words be engraved on every human 
heart, — that our young are giving way to the horri- 
ble crime of self-abuse ; and if we wish to check 
this terrible torrent, which is sweeping away thou- 
sands of our best and brightest youths, emaciating 
their frames, and breaking up their godlike in- 
tellect, we must labor in the cause of physiological 
reform. Every father of a family must acquaint 
himself with physiology, and must impart its 
greatest lesson to his children. 

And now, gentlemen, in conclusion I would 
add, that having, by a long experience gained by 
an extensive practice on this very subject, learned 
the fearful extent of this evil and the multifa- 
rious disasters which befall the human race 
therefrom, — disasters which are of such a magni- 
tude as to affect even the natural existence of 
the present race, — I determined to devote myself to 
the great task of ameliorating the existing evil. 
For this very purpose, then, I have opened this 
institution, the mere examination of which must 
impart valuable knowledge to all. And I have 
also prepared lectures on all those different sub- 
jects which are intimately connected with our 
health, happiness, and welfare. Sincerely hoping, 
therefore, that my objects may be attained, and 
that hereafter numbers will look back to this insti- 
tution and these lectures as the hand-board which 



83 



directed them to the road of health, honor, and 
happiness, and warned them from that path which 
must end in ruin and destruction, I now conclude 
this lecture. 

51 Hancock Street, Boston, Mass. 



LECTURE ON THE VOICE. 



Gentlemen : I rise to address you on subjects 
which it is the duty of every person who has tho 
use of his faculties to study and to learn, — yes, 
I might even say his sacred duty. Years and years 
have men suffered, and languished, entirely owing 
to the ignorance which generally exists on those 
subjects which intimately concern the human body. 
Science has with prodigious strides advanced some 
subjects and has left other and even more important 
ones unrecognized. The mighty mind of man has 
concentrated upon these subjects, ignoring others ; 
nay, not only ignoring, but even sometimes laugh- 
ing to scorn the efforts of those few good and 
philanthropic men who have endeavored to bring 
the matter into general recognition. Such has too 
often been the fate of those who, by books, dia- 
grams, and lectures, have striven to teach the 
human mind about the corporeal care which en- 
velops it. And does it not seem strange that 
that which is the most intimately connected with 
our health, happiness, and welfare should invaria- 
bly be the subject on which few bestow the slight- 

84 



85 



est attention? And what, gentlemen, is the result 
of this apathy and carelessness? The result is 
that thousands and thousands of persons either 
suffer in body or mind. Not only are they apt 
to destroy themselves by vicious habits and abom- 
inable abuses, but they are also apt to injure 
themselves seriously by inattention to the laws 
which govern the system. Therefore, gentlemen, 
a physiological knowledge is essentially requisite 
to all. It will tend to keep youth from that abomi- 
nable soul and body destroying habit, masturba- 
tion. It will cause him to abandon it if he has 
already fallen into the dark and loathsome pit. 
It will cause him to shun the loathsome evils of 
sensuality and immorality. It will cause him to 
respect that wonderful machine which God made 
in his own image, and compared to w r hich the 
greatest work of man is but as dust in the bal- 
ance. Is this, then, a subject unworthy of science 
and public attention? Is it to be kept hidden 
and secret, and locked up when thousands of 
fellow-creatures are imploring for it, — ah! im- 
ploring for it, not with hands uplifted and voice 
upraised, but with the much more touching though 
mute voice which pallid cheeks, and sunken eyes, 
and forms tottering to an early grave, sadly, 
solemnly express? No, gentlemen, the onward 
march of progress, that great unseen power which 
sweeps away abuses from the earth and opens out 



86 



to man fresh fields for human intellect to wander 
in, will break down the walls which ignorance and 
false delicacy have built to hedge it in ; nay> 
more, will even eventually compel every man to 
attain the required knowledge. 

For the very purpose of giving to as many as 
I possibly could this invaluable knowledge, I have 
opened this institution, prepared lectures on vari- 
ous subjects of peculiar interest and extraordinary 
importance. These lectures will be read nightly, 
and will in their course embrace all that extensive 
range of subjects with which it is every one's duty 
to become familiar. Having premised this much, 
I will at once enter upon my subject. 

The first branch, then, of the lecture is upon that 
power of man which enables him to converse, — the 
voice. Now, here at once we come upon one of 
those subjects which so few take notice of. Nine- 
ty-nine men out of one hundred have this ability 
of speech, and yet not one of a thousand has 
ever troubled himself to think how the sounds 
were produced. First of all, then, the voice 
of man and animals depends on the form and 
structure of the larynx or upper part of the 
windpipe, and on the opening to it called the 
glottis. Man's articulation, therefore, is produced 
by the muscles of respiration, the tongue, the 
teeth, the palate, and the lips. The glottis has 
been proved to possess the properties both of a 



87 



wind and a stringed instrument, as its opening or 
chink can be enlarged or contracted, and the liga- 
ments attached to it can be more or less stretched ; 
but the voice can be so varied and complicated in 
its tones that it would be a difficult matter to 
explain all the peculiarities. 

According to Halles, the eminent authority on 
such matters, the organ of speech is nothing more 
nor less than a musical instrument. He says that 
the sound entirely depends upon the tension of 
the strings, and not in the enlargement or diminu- 
tion of the aperture. Now, in wind instruments 
We can gain an octave with the same aperture by 
shortening the tube. So also is the sound changed 
in the larynx ; the muscles produce tone by tight- 
ening the strings. If we attend to the construc- 
tion of musical instruments, we find that the strings 
are not the cause of the tone ; tone arises from 
the vibration of the wood by which the strings are 
surrounded. Thus we find it in the harpsichord 
and in the fiddle. Now do the strings give the 
sound? No, certainly not. The wood gives the 
vibration ; this communicates with the air, the 
material, and the result is sound. So is it, gen- 
tlemen, in the tone of voice ; the strings do not 
give the sound, but split it up ; then the current 
of air is split up into different channels, and so 
also the current of sound is subdivided. This 
subdivision, then, and splitting up of sound, are 



88 



necessary for articulation of words. From in- 
quiry into, and study of, this wonderful construc- 
tion, resulted the effect of teaching deaf men how 
to speak. All vowels, which are notes of the voice, 
are rn^de in the larynx'; labial consonants are 
produced by closing the lips, while the lingual are 
made by the back part of the mouth. Again, 
the dentals are caused by the hissing through 
the teeth, like S and T. So delicate and compli- 
cated a construction as the machine which enables 
us to speak must necessarily be easily affected 
or hurt. Thus, cold attacks the larynx, and at 
once makes us hoarse ; fevers loosen the strings, 
and of course weaken its powers ; fear and sur- 
prise will even take it away. Such being the 
case, how careful, gentlemen, ought every one 
worthy of the name of a man to be of that power 
which at once places him above the rest of the 
animal creation, and enables him, as an orator, a 
musician, or even as a good and honorable mortal, 
to influence, inspire, teach, and comfort his fellow- ' 
creatures ! And yet, gentlemen, how many a 
bright and brilliant youth, — one who might have 
led the counsels of the nations and held multitudes 
enchanted by his eloquence, — how many, I say, 
have thoughtlessly, foolishly, and wickedly de- 
stroyed or impaired these great talents by the 
commission of vicious acts ! Syphilis, that scourge 
whose origin none kno\x> but whose direful effects 



89 



most men are aware of, — ah ! and some to their 
sorrow, — at once if it proceeds any distance in 
its secondary course, impairs or destroys this 
precious boon by eating and corroding the roof of 
that temple which contains one of the greatest gifts 
of a merciful Creator. Look, gentlemen, at No. 
. . . and you will see how that scourge of sin has 
destroyed the able work of the Divine Architect. 

No*T, gentlemen, I will not go the length of say- 
ing that a knowledge "of that divine mechanism by 
which we move, and have our being, will always, 
or even generally, deter men from the commission 
of sensual sin ; but I do hold, and that decidedly, 
that the more we study this great science, and the 
more intimate man's knowledge of himself be- 
comes, the more careful will he be in his actions, 
and the better.care will he be apt to take of a ma- 
chine which is so intricate, and so delicately con- 
structed, as is the corporeal frame. If we, as phys- 
iological leaders, neglect to raise our voices in 
warning and exhortation, then there is but one other 
great teacher on this subject, and he will thunder 
forth a direful eloquence to countless multitudes, 
— multitudes who will shudder at that teacher's 
experience. But, alas ! gentlemen, he comes to 
us, not as a gentle and patient instructor, but too 
often as a fierce and terrible judge, armed w T ith the 
frightful lash of bitter reminiscences and terror- 
inspiring recollections. Shall, then, the philan- 



90 



thropic and enlightened nineteenth century fold its 
hands where so great a field for labor and refor- 
mation is lying desolate? — a waste filled with 
prowling fiends lying in wait for innocent youth 
or incautious middle age. No, gentlemen ; though 
prejudice and false delicacy may, nay, will raise 
its puny voice against our efforts, yet a conscious- 
ness of right and the onward march of reformed 
science shall support us in the effort ; and if but 
one innocent victim is snatched from the jaws of 
soul-consuming despair and unutterable remorse, 
then even will I consider myself repaid for my 
endeavors. Do I say but one? I trust and I 
know, that, as the magnitude of the horrors, which 
must sooner or later overtake the sensualist in his 
crime, is placed before the young in the bright and 
powerful light of truth, so many parents will 
not weep over the early and wretched graves of 
those who might have been as angels, but who 
have sunk to the lowest depths of despair. So 
many unfortunate, broken-hearted wives will not 
sob and lament over those who might have sur- 
rounded their hearths and homes with the sunshine 
of love, peace, and domestic contentment, but 
who have gone, leaving behind them poverty, 
disease, wretchedness, and dishonor. Let, then, 
the loud, ringing voice of science, Of medical 
knowledge, clash through the land, until the voice 
of undisguised truth has exhorted, has warned, 



91 



has saved the lives of men ; and what better 
footprint can we leave behind than that which has 
been trodden in the paths of progress and philan- 
thropy, — trodden whilst conveying comfort and 
hope to the lost and wretched sensualist, whilst 
sounding the tocsin of warning to ignorant and 
unprotected youth? 

Then, gentlemen, let us one and all do what in 
our power lies to promote this good work. Hith- 
erto I have touched lightly upon this evening's 
subject, for my aim is to save rather than con- 
demn ; to lead the profligate back to the paths 
of rectitude, virtue, peace, and happiness, rather 
than, by harshness and severity to hurry him 
on his downward course ; but on that part of my 
subject which I am about to enter, it is my duty to 
speak emphatically, solemnly, and truthfully. 
The subject is one of vital importance to the young, 
— of such importance, indeed, that words cannot 
suffice to express it ; and yet it is one so filthy in 
its practice, so abominable in its deed, and so soul 
and body destroying in its effects, that it is a pain- 
ful task even to touch upon it ; but, alas ! daily 
experience — ah, how sad an experience ! — teaches 
us that we must shake off the thin veil which 
an ultra and false delicacy has thrown around, and 
expose the deed in all its frightful aspects. The 
subject, gentlemen, is that fearful, abominable 
crime which is filling our hospitals with patients, 



92 



our asylums with idiots, our streets with pitiable 
wrecks of manhood, and our cemeteries with the 
graves of those we loved ; that crime which called 
forth the Almighty wrath to destroy Onan ; in fine, 
gentlemen, that crime of crimes called masturba- 
tion or Onanism. 

The subject itself, without painting its deplor- 
able and filthy details, is abhorrent to all well-con- 
stituted minds. But, gentlemen, we have a duty 
to perform. That duty is to find out, and, by ex- 
hortation and warning, to recall such poor unfortu 
nate beings as have been lured by this most horn- 
hie of demons to the brink of everlasting ruin, both 
in body and mind. Such a duty I have to perform, 
. and I will do so without mincing the truth. First, 
the word masturbation is derived from two Latin 
words, manus, the hand, and strapo, which means 
fornication ; the word then means the act of forni- 
cation as committed by the hand. It is that filthy 
habit which young persons of both sexes are liable 
to fall into through ignorance and temptation. It is 
that soul and brain destroying habit which, alas ! is 
too much practised all over the world. At an early 
age, perhaps of eight, ten, or twelve, by bad asso- 
ciates, the youth is first initiated into the horrid 
mystery. At that age, under the present system 
of keeping back from youth all pltysiological 
knowledge, the chi] i probably looks upon it as a 
pleasant, I might almost say, an innocent recrea- 



93 



tion. As he grows older, what was done merely 
for experiment, or, perhaps, to be in fashion with 
his vile and older associate, becomes by repeti- 
tion a regular habit. Lassitude, weakness, dizzi- 
ness, loss of recollection, and timidity, cause him 
to think that something must be wrong. A doctor 
is called in ; he is questioned, of course ; the lad 
carefully conceals his practices ; though not 
ashamed to commit the offensive deed, he is j^et 
too modest to talk about it. The doctor shakes 
his head ; the symptoms are not sufficiently 
marked as yet to allow of his deciding on the true 
cause. The verdict is given, — stomach out of 
order, or cold, or too much hard study. Under the 
influence of medicine, he temporarily feels, or 
fancies himself, better. Then the disease again as- 
sails him. He shrinks from company, he almost 
trembles at the idea of a rough-and-tumble game 
with his tougher comrades ; and, at the prospect 
of a fight, his cheek blanches, his lips quiver, and 
his heart almost chokes him with its throbs. Then 
he begins to feel melancholy. Strange ideas of 
early death come over him, and he wanders about 
in a state of semi-unconsciousness. The habit 
grows deeper upon him. Still, if he have an idea 
it is his fatal habit which is injuring him, yet it is 
but a faint, glimmering idea. And so it continues ; 
his mind, conjuring up filthy and unholy thoughts, 
feeds the fire which is steadily and surely wasting 



94 



his strength and energy. He looks back upon the 
time when, even as a child, his heart beat with 
boyish, yet great and lofty aspirations. Now all 
seems dark and gloomy; he feels as though he 
were different from others. He, in his wretched soul, 
arraigns the Almighty for refusing him those qual- 
ities of courage and strength he sees around him. 
Such, then, are a few of the sufferings which 
must attend the victim of this unhallowed crime. 
Great as they are, and sad as we as human men 
must feel in seeing them, yet they are nothing but 
the just deserts of the sufferers. What better 
can any man expect who with his own hand defaces 
and destroys that beautiful form made in God's 
image ; blots out and obliterates those great men- 
tal faculties, which, under other circumstances, 
might have raised the happy possessor to the 
highest pinnacle of fame ; destroys that creative 
power which might have given to posterity great 
and talented beings, — beings who would have 
been a boon to the age they lived in, — and 
blackens and damns a soul born to wander in 
realms of happiness? Alas! gentlemen, experi- 
ence teaches us that this is a world of sorrow and 
suffering ; but how true it is that two-thirds of 
these are of our own contrivance ! Those who 
give way to this abominable vice at once deprive 
themselves of those calm and peaceful domestic 
joys which are the best and highest gratifications 



95 



a mortal can enjoy. Of all the boons a merciful 
Providence has given to man, a loving and faithful 
wife is perhaps the greatest. How miserable, 
then, must be the fate of those who by their crimes 
render themselves unworthy of a woman's re- 
gard ! He now begins at length to find out what 
is the cause of all his terrible sufferings ; but still 
shrinking from publicity, and not fully appre- 
ciating his frightful condition, he attempts to 
battle with the enemy alone ; but, alas ! that strong 
will which once would have held him to the path 
of rectitude and virtue is so weakened by vicious 
indulgence that the task is a hopeless one, and he 
sinks back into his abominable practices, till at 
length he ends his days a drivelling idiot, or 
shrinks away from the bold and stern fight of life 
into a miserable grave. He sleeps the sleep of 
eternity ; but, alas, not that state of repose where 
44 the wicked cease from troubling and the weary 
are at rest." No, no ; other and more fearful 
punishments await him. But on this subject we 
must not expatiate. Our task is a practical and 
physiological one ; our duty to save only phy- 
sically and mentally ; our lessons are confined to 
this world. We have shown you the general ap- 
parent results of this crime, — results which, alas 
have largely come under my own experience. I 
will now show you the actual physical and local 
results arising from this detestable practice. 



96 



As my object is to instruct and exhort, I en- 
deavor to avoid as many of those long-sounding 
and, to the bulk of the people, unintelligible words 
which most medical men make use of in their lec- 
tures and writings. I strive to make myself in- 
telligible to the meanest capacity, and therefore 
trust that the course of lectures delivered here, 
together with the exhibition of these models, 
may be a blessing to many. We have seen, gen- 
tlemen, the effects of this horrible, destroying 
agent ; let us now consider why these results are 
brought about. Now the reason is this, — that 
whereas the organs of generation are made to per- 
form the wonderful functions of procreation, their 
structure is of the most delicate mechanism ; 
they are, as it were, a physical centre, hence and 
whence all the functions and essences, so to speak, 
of the body congregate and emanate ; therefore 
they have, by means of veins, arteries, and nerves, 
connection with every vital part, such as the heart, • 
the brain, the lungs, and the intestines ; in fact, 
these organs of generation are, as it were, the 
very main-spring of the corporeal frame. In a 
haalthy state, they are kept supplied with seminal 
fluid, and this seminal fluid is the very quint- 
essence of humanity. What we eat, drink, and 
absorb becomes, after a certain manufacture is 
carried on within us, blood, water, and other ma- 
terials which are necessary to our existence ; but 



97 



a further manufacturing takes place until the very 
essence itself is obtained. Now, if we use this 
gift only in legitimate and lawful ways, the supply 
will always meet the demand, and we shall enjoy a 
perfect state of health. Our brains will be clear, 
our minds strong and ready, our hearts exultant, 
and our nerves as iron ; but the moment the de- 
mand is greater than the supply, then the scene 
changes, and everything becomes deranged in a 
greater or less degree. Then, if the vice of Onan- 
ism be indulged in, the supply is soon drained off; 
then the manufacturing process, goes on ; the sys- 
tem is forced ; the brain, the heart, every part of 
the body is robbed of its just share of its vital 
supplies in order to allow the* wretched Onanist to 
gratify his hideous desires. So it continues until 
at length exhausted nature, worked under this 
double and treble high-pressure system, cries out 
too much, breaks down, and leaves the sufferer a 
wreck in mind, body, and morals. But it is not 
only in the waste of the human essence that the 
wretched victim injures and defaces his manly 
form ; the parts themselves through overwork and 
constant use soon become weak, debilitated, and 
at length useless. Ignorance on this branch of 
physiology has been the stumbling-block of men 
for ages, and the medical faculty have been, as a 
rule, very backward in recognizing the extent of 
this fearful evil and in providing for its cure, 
7 



98 



Fortunately science has at length turned its atten- 
tion this way, and^ the consequences are being 
made manifest in the restoration to health and 
happiness of hundreds who otherwise would have 
been lost. So that although the crime is so dis- 
gusting that the mind revolts from its contempla- 
tion, and although the wretched Onanist deserves 
in retribution all the horrors which attend upon 
the committal of this crime, yet it is our duty, not 
only as a medical man but also as a Christian, to 
offer him the means to return to the paths of duty 
and virtue. Too often men who have given them- 
selves up to this destroying power are driven into 
madness or suicide by the idea that their case is 
hopeless. Now, all cases are not hopeless. Hope- 
less they will be if the victim continues in his 
crime, and fruitless will be the doctor's efforts to 
save him ; but happily the body, especially in 
the young, has strong recuperative powers. These, 
when aided by medical science, will, in most cases, 
if the patient keep himself in proper bounds, 
after a time, restore the patient. Some wretched 
quacks advertise cure by specific medicines or 
the use of instruments. Against such the loud 
voice of science exclaims with almost as much 
energy as against the crime of Onanism itself. 
Let the unfortunate victim, then, make up his 
mind to abstain from his lust ; then let him go 
to some physician of experience in such matters, 



99 



state his case, and place himself under his treat- 
ment, and he will, in all probability, be cured. As 
my object is to incite men to regard their physical 
structure with the reverence due its wonderful 
mechanism, and to hold them back from vice, or 
by encouraging hope, inspiring confidence, gently 
lead back to health and happiness, I cannot do 
better than cite a case in point where cure has 
been effected, and that at a period and stage of 
the disease which, in my — alas ! that I have to say 
it — large experience in such cases, seemed utterly 
hopeless. Without specifying either the date or 
locality, — strict secrecy in such matters being the 
duty of the physician, — I will briefly say that a 
gentleman called upon me, requesting me to see his 
son, who, from being a bright and clever boy, had 
grown into a foolish and half-idiotic man. Upon 
visiting my patient I felt certain by his looks that 
self-abuse had either wrought the wreck I saw be- 
fore me, or had helped to bring it about. I called 
the father one side, and although he denied all 
knowledge of his son's having acted in this man- 
ner, he supplied me with data sufficient to con- 
vince me that my first diagnosis was a correct one. 
Upon examining the generative organs I found 
that, though in a critical state, they were yet capa- 
ble of cure. It would be unnecessary for me to 
go through all the details of my professional at- 
tendance ; sufficient to state that after a constraint 



100 



of three or four months, and a course of medicine 
for about the same time, I restored the patient to 
perfect sanity, and to a physical state of health 
which, unless again abused, would in time restore 
him to all those advantages which he had forfeited. 
The other case was a more peculiar one, and I 
cite it as a warning to all young men who have 
ever committed the crime of Onanism, never mind 
how long they may have left it off, not to go into 
the state of matrimony without first getting medi- 
cal advice. Many men, seeing the error of their 
way, have honorably abandoned the habit, and 
have fancied that time would bring everything 
right; but too often their organs have been in- 
jured, and while they think they are gaining 
strength, the seed is flowing from them in every wa- 
ter they pass, — this is called spermatorrhoea, — or 
by nocturnal emissions. In either case it is essen- 
tially necessary that a radical and complete cure 
be effected before marriage, else shame and misery 
will assuredly follow. The case I am about to 
mention was a man of thirty-five years of age. He 
had fallen in love and married a wife who in amia- 
bility and good looks could not well be surpassed. 
After six or seven months of connubial happiness 
he found, to his amazement, his powers leaving 
him ; soon he found himself totally impotent. 
He very wisely resolved at once to get medical 
advice, and chanced to come to me. He was very 



101 



much affected and eagerly sought for cure. I com- 
forted and cheered him up with hopes, if he would 
only give me every information so that I might 
understand his case, I probably would set him to 
rights. Thus exliorted, he told me that when at 
school he had yielded himself to the dreadful 
practice, but upon reaching his twentieth year he 
had abandoned it, and not only lived a virtuous 
life but even a religious one, — he having become a 
prominent member of an association. Upon ex- 
amination I found that he had all through this in- 
terval been suffering from spermatorrhoea, which 
had very much impaired his sexual organs, and al- 
though the excitement and love of the period of 
marriage had temporarily restored his magnetic 
power, yet it had also hurried its prostration. 
Although the disease may be said to have be- 
come chronic, yet with skilful treatment he was 
restored to those domestic pleasures which he had 
almost forfeited by the errors of youth, and lived 
to raise up quite a family. 

In conclusion I would merely observe that, not 
only is it for our own interest to find out our state 
of health before entering upon matrimony, but it 
is even a sacred duty, for, if we believe the Bible, 
we there find it written, " The sins of the father 
shall be visited upon the children." And so it is 
in this abominable crime ; visiting the child with 
feebleness and deformity, and, even though a man 



102 



may feel that he is physically capable to perform 
all the duties of man, even then, if he has ever 
been a victim to this vice, he should be careful, be- 
fore entering matrimony, to make sure that his 
personal health is in that state which will ensure 
to his offspring a proper and robust constitution. 



SELF-EXAMINATION. 



How shall we know whether we are fit to enter into 
the married state ? The question most frequently 
put to me is, How shall I know if I am suffering 
from Masturbation or Spermatorrhoea? What are 
indications of the diseases ? There are symptoms 
which the medical man only can perceive; but 
on the other hand there are indications which are 
so self-evident, that, if the reader of this suffer 
from them, he cannot fail to recognize the disease 
under which he is laboring. 

The symptoms are not always the same, but vary 
with the constitution of the patient. To render 
them patent to everybody, I have classified the 
most remarkable of them. 

Symptoms which affect the generative organs 
only, or 

LOCAL SYMPTOMS. 

Defective erectile power. 
Eruptions on shoulders and forehead. 
Emissions in voiding urine. 
Emissions at stool. 

103 



104 



Undue excitement and emissions in the presence 
of the sex. 

Atrophy or wasting away of the testicles. 

Spermatic Urine. 

Premature emissions during intercourse. 

Erections without sufficient exciting cause. 

Bloody emissions. 

Dull pains in the generative organs. 

Decrease of sensual desire. 

I must here observe that many symptoms occur 
which are indicative of ordinary disease ; but if 
they are the result of Onanism, or s}^philis, or ex- 
cess of venery, then the ordinary means of cure 
will not avail until the original cause be first re- 
moved. The seminal fluid is vitality itself, and 
any seminal loss affects, in a more or less degree, 
the various functions of respiration, digestion, and 
circulation. 

BODILY SYMPTOMS. 

Flatulence. 

Alteration of the functions of the liven 

Craving for food. 

Heat of epigastrium. 

Disgust of ordinary food. 

Nausea after meals. 

Involuntary blushing. 

Irregular pulse. 



105 



Difficulty of respiration and coughs. 
Want of firmness of the muscles. 
Swelling of stomach and intestines. 
Excessive mucous secretions. 
Palpitation of the heart. 
Diarrhoea. 

Inflammation of the rectum. 
Costiveness. 
Loss of flesh. 

Unnatural appearance of skin. 
Indolence. 

Indisposition to exercise. 
Fatigue on the slightest exertion. 
Undue sensibility to heat or cold. 
Discoloration under the eyes. 
Symptoms which affect the mental organs, and 
which if not tended skilfully end in madness. 
Desire of solitude. 
Inability to concentrate the mind. 
Cowardice. 
Loss of memory. 
Moroseness. 
Impaired hearing. 
Impaired sight. 
Black spots in the vision. 
Deterioration of the voice. 
Sighing. 

Unnatural dreams. 
Unrefreshing sleep. 



106 

Depression of spirits. 

Sensation as of cold water down the back, tj 

Giddiness. 

Sudden access of emotion while reading. 

NOTICE TO PATIENTS. 

Dr. Jourdain, having spent thirty years in the 
study and treatment of diseases affecting the mental 
and generative organs, nervous and dyspeptic 
debility, either constitutional or acquired, decline 
of physical vigor, loss of mental energy, and the 
numerous concomitants to sexual disorganization, 
begs to inform those so afflicted that he may be 
consulted, personally, at his residence, 

51 Hancock Street, opposite the Reservoir, Boston, Mass. 

Office hours from 10 A. M. till 2 P. M., and from 
5 P. M. till 8 P. M. Sundays till 2 P. M. only. 
Consultation fee, $5.00. 

COUNTRY PATIENTS. 

Dr. Jourdain begs to inform his country patients 
that by sending their communications by post, or 
otherwise, they can be supplied with the remedies 
adapted to their cases, forwarded to any address. 
The packages will be carefully secured from obser- 



107 



vation, and may be safely taken without confine- 
ment, prevention of daily business, or loss of time. 
Patients will please to rigorously describe their case, 
according to the form appended. The communi- 
cation must, in all cases, be accompanied by the 
usual fee of five dollars, without which all letters 
of consultation will remain unnoticed, and' in all 
cases inviolable secrecy may be relied on. 

Sex. 

Age. 

Married or single. 

Supposed cause. 

How long ill. 

Trade or occupation- 
Symptoms. 

What treatment adopted. 

Name and address. 

Forward, also, if possible, a small phial of 
urine. It must be that which is voided on rising 
in the morning, and before the patient has partaken 
of food. The quick and successful treatment of 
the case depends, in a great measure, upon its 
careful microscopic examination. 

R. J. JOURDAIN, M.D., M.R.C.S.E. 

61 Hancock St., back of tlic State llouse, and opposite the Reservoir, 

Boston, Mass. 



060 C 



<»» 

NOW IN THE PRESS 

AND WILL BE 

SHOBTLYPTJBLISHED, 

*)<? ON THE C 



9X? 



e>6 



«$ 
A 




Gonoealed Causes which shortens the duration of Life, 

BY 

R J. JOURDALN, M. D., 

Principal of the Gallery of Anatomy, 

BOSTON. 

.A. IT HOUB 

IN DR. JOURDAIN'S 

FAMISIAN GALLERY 

OF 
NOW OPEN AT THE 

ARLINGTON HOUSE, 

Corner of Washington and Esses Streets, 

Boston, Mass. 

FBEE BY POST FOR ONE THREE CENT STAMP. 



g ^-<s=XgXg>^*-4S38s>^^^^ 



f^ 






\mMJM$Mi 



wpp 



»" 









v\g y 



e,wpi 



whwwv; 



V w ^ ^ V ^5 V 



«m«S«a^aB^?'DMMttV^ 3 lfiif'lMl 



^vvgyuu 



^y^s?yvv 



ansKHSP 






mm 



MMsmsmm 



Mm 



WVW 



H^-ll^HMIMft" 



W^V^Vi 



MiffWin 



™mm*i 



ivvy\ 






SiS 



v^v«^^^yv 



MUVu 



»Ve'i.V 









,. 









y.yW*3 






1 ™yyy$* 







WKM 



VMS 



'fVWilfl 



MVJ 






WwWww 



«KKM 



iwtow^^^ 



vuv* 






&m v <- 



JjL 

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



VUy 



wm 



021 062 524 








s 




i 



\ iVA, 



TKH 



MTi 






, inuMupUi lli^ - 


tiira 


g 


PA 




ii^vpi|^| 


I 





wy ' ¥ UuW v i ^ 


? ¥ lr-if w y ; L/^ 



y.? iWv 






yu^y 



few 












illM 



Lj 


WW 

i (J ll 


mmm 


y «HV 


3 


*U« 


'Iwmf^M 


* w;S 


MM-wLAJmi 


1 IS 




«f§P 


A 


gy$w 


^H 


. y 


off 


WtMfL/iM- 


tin 



